The Ugly Duckling
by The Teeth Collector
Summary: [AU]Naruto Uzumaki is a quiet kid who barely leaves an impression on people. One day while being bullied, he meets the very disagreeable Sasuke Uchiha. From that day onward, Sasuke insist on making Naruto’s life more difficult than it already is. SasuNaru
1. The Asshole

Revisited on 6/4/06 for minor changes and crediting.

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**The Ugly Duckling **

**Chapter I: The Asshole**

by The Teeth Collector

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At six thirty, the alarm clock's face blinked bright red. Not soon after Karen O's croons filled the air, making sure to pierce the eardrums of all who slept. The room of which her voice was confined was stuffy and had a sense of neglect to it. Even so, it was someone's entire world. Dust covered everything, tacky clothing littered the brown carpet, and the whole place smelled like dirty laundry. There was a rustle coming from underneath a thick floral printed comforter and a hand shot out. It started groping for the alarm clock. 

_Oh so far my lovin' goes  
Under the fog, fog, fog  
And I will leave them all  
Well, I'm just a poor little baby  
Cause well I believe them all_

_Oh, so while your growing old  
Under the gun, gun, gun  
And I believe them all-_

Before Karen could finish the rest of her verse, a hand slammed down on the off button. The occupant of the bed turned his head around to meet with his blind-less window. The sun was starting to rise and the birds happily chirped outside the window. It took a minute for Naruto to remember what day it was. With a groan, Naruto kicked his comforter back and sat up. He yawned and stretched out his tired muscles.

"It's only Thursday," Naruto said to himself. "You only got one more day."

Naruto cursed under his breath as he rolled out of bed. Going to sleep in jeans is not something that he recommends. He picked a shirt off the floor and stiffed it. Naruto wrinkled his noise before throwing it across the room and repeated this until he fount a shirt to wear. Without a second thought of changing his jeans, Naruto tugged on shirt. Suddenly, Naruto remembered that he couldn't see anything ten feet away from himself. Naruto grabbed his glasses off his dresser and put them on before heading straight to the kitchen.

As usual, the cupboard was filled boxes of brightly colored, sugar-coated cereal. Naruto picked Fruit Loops and started to pour himself a bowl. He ate his breakfast in the living room as the news played on the television. With his feet up on the couch and hutched over the bowel of cereal, Naruto shoveled food into his mouth. The weather girl stood in front of a screen where markers with today's temperature dotted the map of the city. She wore a huge smile on her face as she informed her audience of what they should wear today. After the weather announcements were over, the camera switched back to news reporters.

Naruto drank his milk as rather overzealous anchorman reported on a story. As the anchorman continued to ramble, Naruto stood up and went into the kitchen. He washed his dishes before going off to find his sneakers and hoodie. Naruto slipped on his beat up Adidas before heading out. He walked a few blocks until coming across a bus stop. It was deserted. Most people are still asleep at six thirty-two in morning.

The boy yawned and pulled out his CD player. He listened to music while he waited for the bus. The bus finally showed up ten minutes later. By the time the bus made it to Naruto's stop, he had listened to the whole album. Naruto waited patiently for the school to open its doors for the students. Suddenly, someone tapped Naruto's shoulder, tearing his attention away from the beetle he was watching not moments ago. Naruto jumped. He turned around to see a girl with strawberry blonde hair standing behind him.

She had bright green eyes and a large forehead. She wore her unusually colored hair in spunky short cut. She was neither ugly nor beautiful. Her appearance was not bland or too common, yet she stood out of the crowd. Her name was Sakura Haruno, Naruto's best friend unbelievably. Right behind her was a very irritable looking girl with platinum blonde hair. Unlike Sakura, she was wearing a rather flashy purple top appose to Sakura's rather casual outfit. Naruto vaguely recalls Sakura calling her Ino.

"Naruto, do you have any idea how long I've been calling out your name?" Sakura asked in annoyance before continuing, "Ten whole minutes."

Naruto stopped himself from snorting. He doubted it that long. Sakura sometimes love to throw things out of proportion. It was probably only for thirty seconds.

"You really need to stop spacing out," said the girl, while sitting down next to Naruto. Ino continued to stand all the while glaring daggers into the back of her girlfriend.

"I'll try, but that bug. It was so cool," said Naruto.

Sakura gave him a look a doubting and said, "You're weird."

Just then, Naruto heard soft footsteps from behind him. He looked over his shoulders to see a boy about his age him beside Ino. He threw and arm around her narrow shoulders. He had unruly hair, much like Naruto, but his hair was brown, not blond. His beetle black eyes were silted like a cat's, and he had an air of arrogance and pride to him.

"Hey, Sakura," the boy called out. "I didn't know you have a boyfriend… He's a bit too scrawny for you, ain't he?"

Scrawny?

Sakura looked up at the new comer and her expression darkened. "Oh," she said. "It's just you. What do you want?"

"'It's just you'?" the boy sputtered. "That's not fair! I only wanted to talk to you."

By this time, Ino had enough. She made of sound of frustration and sulked off without the loud boy.

"Humph, I care to talk to you, and Naruto isn't my boyfriend."

"You're so mean to me."

Before Naruto knew it, that loud abrasive boy was sitting much too close to him- in his personal bubble. Much to add to Naruto's displeasure, a finger was thrust into his face.

"I know you," said the brunet boy. "You're that quiet kid, Nahfoodroe."

Naruto's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. Nah… foodroe?

"Yeah, I am one-hundred fucking percent certain that's your name."

"It's Naruto," said Naruto meekly.

"Really," said the other boy who was now oblivious to everything around him, including the school bell ringing and Sakura leaving. "You still have a weird name… I like my version better. Name's Kiba."

The boy now known as Kiba held his hand out to Naruto. Naruto stared at the hand dubiously before clapping his own hand against Kiba's. The blond boy thought his arm was going to pop out its socket as Kiba furiously shook it. It do not help that this guy had one hell of a grip. The onslaught on Naruto's arm stopped when Kiba finally noticed that both Sakura and Ino were gone. Kiba let go of Naruto's hand and stood.

Naruto barely had time to register what happened when Kiba pulled him up by his hood. Luckily, Naruto was wearing his over the shoulder book bag. The other boy proceeded to drag Naruto into the school building like a dog owner whose poodle decided to be stubborn. As soon as the two enter the crowded hallway, a group of boys called Kiba over to join them. Naruto let out a sigh of relief for he was alone once again and went off to find Sakura's locker.

Never in Naruto's life has someone been as… bold as Kiba was in his advances. Not even Sakura was that pushy when Naruto first met her. She slowly made her way to his life, even though Naruto had a very low opinion of her back then. Who could blame him? She was a little snot, but she was compassionate and understood that Naruto wanted space- lots of it. Unlike Kiba of whom Naruto just met not very long ago… Well, that would be a lie. Naruto knew who Kiba was. He hung out with a group of boys who were bullies, and on occasion, they would bully Naruto. Kiba did not, but the others did. While Naruto did not have an opinion on Kiba yesterday and the day before that, he did now.

He did not like Kiba, but knew the other boy would be completely ignorant to his dislike of him. Moreover, it wasn't like Naruto could tell him off. He was not that outspoken.

Sakura was put her books into her bag when Naruto made it too her locker. Naruto could not get his locker to open. He does not know why, Naruto knew that he can't. It wasn't like he did not have the combination to his locker, it's just that he couldn't time the amount turns right. Naruto did his daily routine of mooching off Sakura's locker and headed off with her to homeroom.

Naruto hoped the rest of the day would go by fast, in the back of his mind, he knew it wouldn't.

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Naruto was tired. Kiba insisted on sitting next to Naruto at lunch. Sakura was less than ecstatic about Kiba's sudden urge to hang out with them. Kiba, as it happens, likes to talk, a lot. The boy loved to hear his own voice, and no one else's. He talked while Naruto ate. Kiba talked while he eating. He talked when Naruto was drinking. Kiba also talked while drinking. Just how he pulled that off was baffling. Naruto, of course, did not engaged in conversation with Kiba. He only nodded his head while Kiba's mouth ran, but he wasn't listening at all. 

During the last thirty minutes of last period, Naruto's bladder had the sudden urge to defy him. As he entered the boy's bathroom, Naruto was yanked into the room by his collar. The smell of bleach drifted into Naruto's nostrils as he got a clear view of his attacker. It was Sakon. He was one of those bullies that Kiba hung out with, and Naruto always had a sneaky suspension that he and his twin brother, Ukon, where gay. Well, it's not every day you meet twin brother who wear purple lipstick.

Sakon let go of Naruto's collar and wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Hey, Naruto, got any money?" he asked.

"I don't have any," said Naruto.

That was a lie. Naruto had money, but it was carfare and he was not about to give up his carfare.

Sakon narrowed his visible eye. "You're lying," he spat.

"I am not-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Naruto's feet were kick from underneath him. The air was knocked out of Naruto's lunges as his back hit the cold floor. Dazed and confused, Naruto looked up to see a foot hovering over his face. Without warning, Sakon's foot came down on Naruto's face. Naruto heard a sickening crack as his nose broke under the pressure. Blood started flow out of Naruto's nose when Sakon dropped his entire weight onto his chest.

"This would have so much easier for you if you just handed over your money to me, Naruto," Sakon said in an even tone. "But _nooo_, you _had_ to be so selfish and stubborn."

Sakon's elbow pressed hard into Naruto's chest.

"Hand over the money."

"Okay, okay," gasped Naruto. "It's… in my p-pocket."

Sakon finally let off his weight and begin to pat down Naruto's front pockets. Naruto felt blood rush to his cheeks as Sakon's hand dove into his right pocket. The feeling of a hand other than his own in his pockets was foreign and unwanted. Sakon's hand was way to close to Naruto's inner thigh, but it soon retreat. When Sakon took the fist full of notes out of Naruto's pocket, the bathroom door opened.

Both Naruto and Sakon looked up to see who had walked in. Standing in the doorway was a boy from Naruto's class. The expression he wore was that of disinterest that went well with his dark hair and eyes. He had a pale complex, but it wasn't sickly at all. He was what most people descried as a pretty boy. His was Saucegay or something like that. Naruto recalls him being in the same group as Kiba. Saucegay's inky black eyes went from Naruto to Sakon.

"Get off him, Sakon," said Saucegay.

As if receiving an order from a commending officer, Sakon let up all of his weight and stood up. He pocketed Naruto's carfare before pushing passed Saucegay. Now alone with Saucegay, Naruto sat up. He bent over with his legs parted so that the blood wouldn't ruin his shirt. Naruto fixed his glass when a hand shot out in front of him. In it was a bunch of paper towels. Naruto took them, muttering a small "thanks" before bring them up to his nose. Carefully, Naruto stood up. He looked over to see Saucegay standing in front of a urinal.

"Sakon's an idiot," he stated while finishing up. Saucegay walked over to the sinks to wash his. "You're not petty are you? You could always tell the nurse that you slipped."

"Are you telling me to lie?" Naruto asked. His hand muffled his words.

"Yes."

Naruto glared at the back of Saucegay's head. How dare he tell Naruto to lie about this! He was mugged not too long ago for god sakes! Just how tactless can this guy be?

"I am not lying for your friend," Naruto said curtly.

As Naruto turned around to leave, a strong grip took hold of his arm. He turned around to see Saucegay standing behind him.

"Get off my arm!" said Naruto, as he tried in vain to yank his arm free from Saucegay's grip.

"No," the other boy replied.

Naruto started to protest as Sasuke dragged him out of the bathroom. Naruto gave up on protesting and glared at the back of brunet's head instead. Who the hell did this guy think he is? He makes Kiba look like the most pleasant person in the world! Naruto has never met anybody as pushy as Saucegay in all of his life! Naruto takes everything that he said about Kiba back. This guy is even ruder and bold than Kiba ever was! Saucegay could least tell him where they were going!

"Where are we going," said Naruto. His question was like a demand.

"Where else, but the nurse's office," Saucegay simply replied.

Great, just great now he wants to make sure that Naruto lies for Sakon.

Saucegay let go of Naruto's arm when they finally as they reached a door decorated with many colorful, medical related cutouts. The brunet reached out and knocked on the wooden door. Not soon after a female voice called out, telling them to come in. They were greeted by the sigh of a blonde woman behind a desk when Sasuke opened the door. She wore her long her in a girlish style of pigtails, but that wasn't the most impressive thing about the school nurse. The nurse was quiet popular with the male students for being a rather attractive young woman, but also for her ample breasts. Which were very hard to miss. On her blouse, she wore a nametag identifying her as Tsunade Matsura.

Tsunade looked up at Naruto and sighed. She stood and went over to the sink. She washed her hands before putting on a pair of gloves and grabbing a bundle of paper towels.

"Okay," she said while walking over to Naruto. "Take and seat and tell me happened, Naruto."

Naruto sat down in one of the plastic chairs lining the wall. He was about to open his mouth to talk, but Saucegay beat him to it.

"He slipped and fell in the boy's bathroom," the other boy said.

Tsunade shot a glare at Saucegay's direction. "I was asking him, not you, Mister Uchiha," she snapped. She then turned back towards Naruto. "Is that really what happened, Naruto?"

Biting his lip, Naruto nodded his head and said, "Yeah."

Both Tsunade and Saucegay raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you sure?" she asked in doubtfully.

"Yeah," said Naruto.

Naruto could not believe he just did that! God, he was such a loser.

"Alright then," said Tsunade. "Mister Uchiha, you can go back to class now. You're not needed any longer. I'll call up for Naruto's thing in a moment."

Without a single word, Saucegay left.

"Now let's take care of that nose of yours. Hand your paper towel, Naruto," said Tsunade.

Naruto could look down Tsunade's blouse when she bent over to retrieve his bloodied up towels. The boy's face turned beet red. Numbly, he handed over the towels. Tsunade tilted up Naruto's chin to get a better look at his injury.

"It's swollen alright, but there isn't much I can do right now," she said. "Here take these paper towels. The only thing we can to right now is stop the bleeding. This will hurt a bit. Now pinch your nose- yeah like that. Tilt your head forward- that's good. Now continue doing that for ten more minutes. In the meanwhile, I'll call your teacher so you can get your bags. What class do you have right now?"

"Art," Naruto replied.

"That's Mister Sarutobi's class, right?" said Tsunade.

"Yeah."

Naruto stayed there like that until his book bag came also most ten minutes later. When the time was up, Tsunade instructed him to meet with her again once the swelling went down. The school bell rung as Naruto walked down the hallways. He ignored the stares of onlookers as he walked towards Sakura's locker. The girl gasped when she saw him. She rushed over to him and started to inspect his face.

"What happened?" she asked, fingers inching closely towards Naruto's swollen nose. She touched it and Naruto gasped in pain. "Ooh, sorry."

"I slipped," said Naruto. "How bad does it look?"

"Like a red pepper."

There is one thing that Naruto loved about Sakura. She always told the truth. To hell with cheering people up, make them feel bad. They'll appreciate it later.

"Did you break it," Sakura asked while opening her locker.

"Yeah," replied Naruto.

"That's bad," said Sakura. "Oh well, it'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Sakura handed Naruto his hoddie, which Naruto then put on. The sound of a locker being slammed shut as heard as Sakura put on her sweater.

"Do you want to see your nose?" Sakura asked while Naruto shrugged his book bag on. She was digging around in her purse for her compact mirror.

"I'd rather not," said Naruto, as he followed Sakura towards the school entrance.

"Aw, it's raining," said Sakura once they got outside.

Naruto looked up at giant gray blanket of clouds that covered the sky. Indeed, it had started to rain. It was a light drizzle, but Naruto knew it going to start pouring any moment. Most of the students were covering their heads with anything could find, but some of them were wise enough to bring an umbrella. Naruto looked over to see Sakura pulling a tiny umbrella out of her book bag. Once the umbrella was open, Sakura invited Naruto underneath it with her.

"Do you want a ride home?" asked Sakura, as they began to walk.

Naruto shook his head; he never took up Sakura's offer to get a ride home. This time, however, was different since he robbed and he taking up Sakura's offer now would be suspicious. Naruto couldn't give off the impression that he was robbed.

"I'll just take the bus home," said Naruto, but in reality, he had to walk home. The school wasn't that far from Naruto's house. He just liked taking the bus because he was lazy. The bus ride there was actually longer than walking.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," said Sakura, as they walked towards the parking lot.

"Here," the girl said once they got to her car. She handed Naruto her umbrella so she could get into the car. Sakura did not wait to get her umbrella back as she climbed into the driver's seat.

"Your umbrella-," Naruto started, but was cutoff by Sakura.

"Oh, you can have, Naruto. I don't need it," she said.

Naruto nodded before walking off towards the bus stop, but kept on walking when he saw Sakura driving off. Naruto walked for about a block when a boxy blue car pulled up to curb.

"Do you want a ride home?" a voice asked from within the car.

For some odd reason, this reminded Naruto of a kid safety video that he saw once- the one about "tricky people". He stopped walking and turned around to see the person who called him. Naruto's eye narrowed when he saw the driver. It was that Saucegay guy.

"Well?" Saucegay asked.

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I do not own Naruto or Y-control by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs  



	2. Riding In Cars with Boys

I am so sorry this chapter took so long. I wasn't in a writing mood for days, and it took forever for me to plot this chapter out. Luckily, at midnight I got into that mood and wrote the last three hundred words of this chapter. It's mostly a filler and useless, but it's a character chapter, so that's a good thing. To make up for my lateness, I will tried to update later on this month.

I got a request from a reviewer to add Gaara into the chapter as Naruto's only other friend. I'll try to add him in, but I'm not too fond of Gaara, so he won't be Naruto's friend. He'd scare my incarnation of Naruto to death. Can you imagine how their first meeting would be?

I would like to think all of the people who wrote a review for the first chapter. I'd never imagine I'd get nineteen reviews. If there are any mistakes, please inform me of them.

**I do not own _Naruto_ or any other related characters or material.**

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**The Ugly Ducking**

**Chapter II: Riding In Cars With Boys**

by The Teeth Collector

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_ "Do you want a ride home?" a voice asked from within the car. _

For some odd reason, this reminded Naruto of a kid safety video that he saw once- the one about "tricky people". He stopped walking and turned around to see the person who called him. Naruto's eye narrowed when he saw the driver. It was that Saucegay guy.

"Well?" Saucegay asked.

"No," Naruto growled. "I don't want a ride home from you. My mommy told me to never accept rides from strangers."

Saucegay smirked. Apparently, Naruto snappy remark amused him. "Well, mommy isn't here right now, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her," said the brunet before closing the window. He leaned over and opened the passenger's side door. The boy settled back into his seat and threw his arm over the backrest. Sasuke seemed so sure of himself. This made scowl appear on Naruto's face.

"I am not getting into your car," said Naruto sternly. He was very tempted to walk away at this point.

"I just want to talk to you. Anyway, there is not reason for you to be so cautious around me," said Saucegay.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you, now go away," said Naruto. He shot Sasuke a warning glare before walking off.

Saucegay sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. This was more difficult than he thought. He leaned over to close the passenger side door closed and turned off his car. Not bothering to grab an umbrella, Saucegay climbed out of his car and went after the blond boy. Naruto's pace did not slow as Saucegay caught to him- in fact, it quickened. Unfortunately, the stop light turned red before Naruto got to the corner of the block. With a pout, Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn't care if it was childish or not. The world was against him, damn it! Moreover, that Saucegay would not leave him alone!

"I thought I told you to go away," said Naruto, as he stared at the passing cars in front of him.

"I'm not easily told off. I rather stand my ground than to give up," said Saucegay matter-of-factly.

Naruto snorted. "How charming," he said dryly. "Now leave me alone."

"No, I won't. As I said before, I am not easily told off, and I won't leave you alone to you talk to me."

Naruto turned around to face Sasucegay. The other boy's black long sleeve shirt was starting to stick to his body, and all the styling gel washed out his hair. In Naruto's opinion, Saucegay looked like a drowned black cat. If Naruto wasn't pissed off right now, he would have snorted in laugher. "Look, you are wasting my time! I have somewhere important to go, and, obviously, I can't go anywhere because you're harassing me! Why won't you take no for an answer? And don't give me that "I'm-not-easily-told-off" shit either."

Saucegay merely yawned at Naruto's response.

_That bastard,_ Naruto thought gritting his teeth.

"If you took my offer for a ride home, you wouldn't have wasted time," said Sasuke.

Naruto bought bother of his hands up to his face to muffle a distinct growl of frustration. Naruto said something, but his hands muffled his words.

"What?" Saucegay asked.

Naruto looked back up at Saucegay. Saucegay raised an elegant eyebrow. The red tint in Naruto's face and the tip of his ears almost dominated over his golden blond hair.

"I said how long will it take you to get to Willow Avenue!" Naruto yelled, making sure that Saucegay heard him this time.

"Not very long," the brunet said flatly.

"Fine," Naruto said as Saucegay huddled under the umbrella with him. "What are you doing?"

"Getting out of the rain," the other boy replied. "What does it look like?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Saucegay, but said nothing.

The two walked back to Saucegay's car while huddled underneath Sakura's giant umbrella. While it wasn't uncomfortable to be walking like this, Naruto still didn't like being shoulder to shoulder with the other boy. Saucegay moved from underneath the umbrella when they got to the car. He walked to driver's side and climbed in. As soon as he settled down into his seat, Saucegay pulled his sun visor down and looked into the mirror. The boy groaned lightly when he saw his reflection. His signature cockatoo inspired spikes were now lying flat against his skull. He had the urge to grab his bottle of hair gel, but it wouldn't do much to his wet hair right now.

As Saucegay pulled the visor back up, Naruto was already settling down in the passenger seat. The blond boy tucked Sakura's wet umbrella in-between his seat and the door as Saucegay started up his car.

"That girl that you were walking with, she's your girlfriend, right, Naruto?" Saucegay asked.

How did Saucegay know Naruto's name. Oh, yeah, they're in the same homeroom and almost take every subject together.

"How do you know about her?"

Saucegay shrugged dismissively. "I was walking behind you. Now answer the question."

"She's not," said Naruto.

"Hn, I knew it. Sakura is too shallow to date a guy like you," said Saucegay.

Naruto glared at the side of Saucegay's head. "That is my friend you're talking about, and just what do you mean by "a guy like me"?"

"I knew Sakura since the sixth grade, and that girl hasn't changed a bit. She's still a shallow little brat no matter how much she tries to hide it."

"You still didn't answer my last question!"

"What question?"

If looks could kill, Saucegay would be disemboweled by now. Naruto muttered a few choice words under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm Sasuke," said Sasuke. Naruto looked over to Sasuke with his eyebrow raised. "Just in chase you wanted to know, but I guess you already knew that."

Naruto looked away from the other boy and snorted. He liked his version better. The two sat in silence for the remainder of the trip. By the time they made it to Willow Avenue, the rain let up.

"Stop here," said Naruto as they approached a super market.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto with his eyebrow raised. "You're going grocery shopping?" he asked while pulling over.

Naruto was at a lost of words. "Um… no, I work here. Bye!"

The blond boy grabbed Sakura's umbrella and pushed the car door open.

It wasn't a complete lie. Naruto did work at a shop on the Avenue, but it wasn't at a super market.

As Naruto climbed out of Sasuke's car, the brunet took hold of Naruto's hoodie. Naruto taken by surprise as he was yanked back onto the car seat. Naruto turned around and glare at Sasuke.

"What?" he snapped at the other boy.

Sasuke did not seem fazed by his tone. "I just wanted to tell you that I know Sakon mugged you. You should have token Sakura's offer for a ride home. Sometimes you just have to shallow your pride. Being that prideful is a very bad character trait," he said in a stern, motherly tone.

Naruto sneered at Sasuke and yanked himself out of Sasuke's grip. "So, you sat there and said nothing to him?"

Sasuke shrugged dismissively. "I can't control everything he does."

Naruto eyes where locked onto Sasuke's as he gripped the top of the car door. What an asshole!

"Fuck you," he said before slamming the car door close.

Naruto sulked off pass the super market. He didn't care if Sasuke's car was still parked at the corner. That jerk was probably calling up all his little friends, and telling them how he finally got Naruto to say 'fuck you'. Sasuke's motives were questionable, but Naruto could care less. He knew that this was all just a game to Sasuke. People him only care about themselves. People like that never change.

That includes the people staring at him right now. They were acting like they never seen a boy with a broken nose before. All this unwanted attention was starting to get to Naruto, and the boy hung his head in embarrassment.

He continued to walk until he came upon a nursery by the name of "Fleur's Nursery". Fleur's was a small retail nursery. Naruto worked here for the past two years. It was embarrassing since Naruto was very fond of botany, and his job at a nursery was tied into his hobby. He had many plants at home and gifted Sakura with a plant or two over the years. Of course, Sakura teased Naruto when he told her he liked plants. She thought it was cute.

All girls think flowers are cute.

With a sigh, Naruto walk into the nursery's parking lot.

As he entered the permanent garden display, Naruto spotted the store manager talking to a very aggravated looking woman. The store's manager was a very casual, laid back, but eccentric man by the name of Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi's biggest quirk was that he wore an eye patch and a surgical mask- he claims that pollen upsets his asthma. Beside Kakashi was a petite woman wearing her hair in four pigtails. She wore an all black outfit under the forest green smock that all employees were issued. Her nametag read Temari Shukaku. Kakashi seemed calm while Temari was tense and glaring at the toad face woman.

Naruto groaned. If Temari was involved, than this cannot be good.

"Now, now, ma'am, such drastic actions are not needed. It was a minor misunderstanding," Kakashi said a very calming tone.

"It was most certainly not a "minor misunderstanding"!" the red-faced woman shrieked. Apparently, Kakashi's attempt to clam the woman down only angered her even more. "That disrespectful, little… little brat showed no intension at all to sale me the right plant! She generally rude to me and listening to her CD player while I asking for her assistance! You ought to be ashamed to have such a girl working under you. Young people like her drive valuable costumers away…" She eyed the diamond stud on Temari's left nostril.

Temari glared harder at the insulting woman.

"Well, that would be true if Temari was not a very reliable employee that has been with us for years," said Kakashi matter-of-factly. "Losing such a valued employee would be a very huge lost. Besides, she as never has given us much trouble until now. "

Naruto had not moved from his spot. Like most of the other employees and shoppers, he was watching the "epic" argument. He was amazed how calm Kakashi was, but even Naruto could tell that the man's patience was wearing thin. Deciding that it was best not to waste anymore time, Naruto slipped past the crowd and into the back of the store. Naruto was surprise to find out his he on time when he went to clock-in for his shift. After clocking-in, Naruto put his things away in his locker. Luckily, his work locker had a pad lock on it.

While Naruto was putting on his smock as Kakashi entered the locker area.

"Naruto, I need you to weed the garden for me," said Kakashi. The man must have spotted Naruto come in earlier- nothing got pass him.

"Okay, sure," Naruto replied, turning around to face Kakashi. "Um, what happened between Temari and that lady back there?"

Kakashi shrugged. "There was no fault on Temari's part. Mrs. Mason thought it would be smart to use the botanical names when buying plants. As it turns out, she isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, and Temari obviously had no idea what plant Mrs. Mason wanted." Naruto snorted in laugher. Once in a blue moon, they would get these types of costumers.

"What did you say to after she insulted Temari?"

"You were there, you heard."

"No, I mean, after I left."

"Oh," Kakashi rubbed his chin. "She started fussing again, and used the good old "I'm-never-shopping-here-ever-again" line. I told that losing her services wouldn't be much of a loss." One more thing, Kakashi never lies. He may withhold the truth, but he'll never lie to you. "Apparently," The man continued. "That made her mad, and she left not without screaming a few choice words… Now, move along. The garden won't weed its self."

"Fine," Naruto sighed before closing his locker. If he was stuck weeding, he might as well be the best goddamn gardener today.

* * *

After work, Naruto grabbed a one-dollar burger from McDonald's. It may not be very healthy, but it worked. When he got home, all Naruto wanted to do was finish his homework, and go to bed. After completing only two of his assignments, Naruto went to bed. He woke up as he did the day before, but without feeling crappy from sleeping with pants on. For that, he was thankful. 

Naruto pulled his boxers out of his butt crack where they migrated to during the night. While sitting on the side of bed, Naruto wondered whether he should go to school today. He woke up late, and Naruto did not want to face Sasuke again either. The school already knew about his situation at home. They would not care if he wrote sick a note for himself on Monday. That would give him two days to do all his chores. Naruto maybe an underachiever, but he knew how to take of himself.

Decided that it was best to stay home, Naruto headed towards the bathroom. He relieved himself before heading to the shower. After washing his hair and body with coconut scented body wash and shampoo, Naruto went to grabbed for his "dry towel".

The boy walked over to his floor length mirror and wiped the fog out the glass with his hand. Staring back at him was a boy with a cream-colored towel around his waist. To be honest, Naruto never really liked the way he looked. Of course, he was tan with blond hair and blue eyes, but those were his only good features. He was skinny, but he did not have much muscle mass. He does do I little bit of lifting at the nursery, but not a lot to build upper body strength. He wasn't very tall either. He and his history teacher Miss Yuuhi were the same height. His wonderfully golden blond hair was dry and untamable. Sakura tried to style it, but it went back to being messy. His face was badly scared from a dog attack when he was younger. It left him with three jagged scars on each cheek, not to mention his hideously swollen nose.

Naruto laughed to himself. He was defiantly the picture of masculine beauty.

Sighing to himself, Naruto walked back to his bedroom to grab the nearest pair of jeans and shirt. Naruto decided to commando today. It wasn't like he was a pervert or anything, he just did not have any clean underwear. After getting dressed, Naruto watered his plants and gathered up two weeks worth of clothes. It's better if he washed a load one at a time.

Without eating breakfast, Naruto headed off to the laundromat that was one block away from him with a loaded shopping cart. The smell of laundry detergent hit Naruto like a brick as he walked through the laundromat's door. It was noon on a Friday, so there were many open washing machines and dyers. Naruto picked the closest small sized washer he could find and loaded it up with his whites. He did the same with the rest of his colored clothing. Afterwards, Naruto sat down and started to count the rest of his money. Detracted by his counting, Naruto did not notice the girl who sat down next to him.

"What are doing?" the girl asked.

Naruto jumped in response. He turned around to see a rosy cheek girl about eight wearing her auburn hair up in Pippi Longstocking inspired pigtails. Her face and arms were covered in tiny red blisters. Oh god, she had chicken pox.

"Moegi, what are doing down stairs? Does your mom know that you're down here? It is it okay for you to be down here?" Naruto asked hastily.

Moegi scratched her cheek before responding, "I got bored, no, and I think. Why are you out of school, Boss? And what happened to your nose?"

Naruto sighed. "I told you to stop calling me that. Anyway, you should go back upstairs. It's very dangerous for you to be down here, and I broke it."

"Really?" the girls asked. Naruto nodded. "Okay, I'll go back up stairs, but promise me that you'll play with me, Kanohamaru, and Udon when I stop having chicken pox, and don't make any excuses about having work, okay?"

"You'll go back up stairs if I agree?"

The girl nodded her head.

Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched down in seat. "Okay, fine."

At that moment, the bell above the laundromat door ringed. Standing in the door way was the last person Naruto thought he would run into today- Sasuke. The brunet was wearing a simple cream-colored sweater and stone washed jeans. He looked comfortable and casual, and Naruto thought the look suited him well. The two met eyes moments before turned his side to the side. Next to Naruto, Moegi had gotten starry eyed as she stared at Sasuke. Naruto sighed; even eight-year-old girls were attracted to Sasuke's looks.

Out from the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke grab pairs of lacy underwear out of the washer. Either Sasuke was a cross dresser, or his girlfriends made him wash clothes this week. Sasuke moved from the washer to the dryer and loaded it up. He repeated this several times. Naruto noted the loads where mostly made of men's and women's clothing, and from what could tell, the unknown woman liked sexy clothing.

Sasuke left his cart near the dryers and went over the row of chairs that Moegi and Naruto were sitting in. He sat down next to Naruto who took no acknowledgement to his presence. Moegi, on the other hand, did. She jumped off the chair next to Naruto, and sat down next to Sasuke who seemed unfazed by her case of chicken pox.

"About yesterday…" Sasuke started.

"There is nothing to talk about yesterday afternoon," Naruto said firmly.

"Fine, there isn't, but could we talk about something else then? Like reason why we skipped school? On the other hand, what happened to your glasses? Or why is there a little girl with chicken pox running around?" said Sasuke.

"I don't what to talk to you right now," said Naruto.

"Alright, but I have to tell you that I stepped on your glasses yesterday."

Naruto's jaw dropped and he turned around to face Sasuke.

"You can always get a new pair," Sasuke said to the stunned boy.

"I'm Moegi," Moegi said from beside Sasuke. "What's your name?"

"His name is Saucegay," said Naruto, snapping out of his state of shock. Moegi started to giggle while Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow. "Now go back up stairs, Moegi."

Moegi, still giggling, nodded and jumped off her chair. She disappeared behind a door in the back of the room.

The only thing that could be heard was the sound of Moegi closing her apartment door, the television, the faint sound of music playing, and washers and dryers running. The silence between Naruto and Sasuke wasn't comfortable. It was oddly calming and enjoyable. The two times that Naruto was in the company of Sasuke, he was never calm. He felt the same way he did when meets someone new- scared. Naruto welcomed this change in atmosphere.

Naruto looked over to see Sasuke with his eyes closed listening too his mp3 player. His profile was sharp, straight nose, dark eyelashes lying against high cheekbones, and thin well-shaped lips. There was not a hair on Sasuke's chin, but that was to be expected at his age. Sasuke's features were soft, yet not completely feminine. Such looks were common among Asian pop stars. It wasn't a wonder why Moegi and many other girls fell for Sasuke.

Sasuke was good looking and Naruto knew it.


	3. Of OompaLoompas and Gym Classes

**Revisited on 7/7/07 for minor changes.**

A very helpful reviewer pointed out that the last chapter ended quite abruptly. Reread the ending of the chapter and saw that it did seem cut off. I almost feel like revisiting the chapter. Not now though, but I will sometime during the near future. I'm a perfectionist- a very lazy perfectionist. Don't ask me how that works.

This chapter was something alright. I started to write immediately after posting chapter two, and as been working on it for the last twenty days. This chapter is twice as long as the last and has a lot more Sakon. (You didn't think I'd leave him alone, did you?) Like the last chapter, I introduced more characters. I plan to do this every chapter.

Also, this story was filed into a dark fic C2. Shit hasn't hit the fan yet, and my story is being labeled as dark. O.o

Con-crit is much approved as well as hinting out errors and offers to proof read.

**I do not own Naruto or Doritos.**

* * *

**The Ugly Duckling**

**Chapter III: Of Oompa-Loompas and Gym Classes**

By The Teeth Collector

* * *

By Monday, the swelling of Naruto's nose went down bit, and now he was getting fewer stares. There was not a doubt in Naruto's mind that the swelling will go down by Tuesday, but now all he had to do was wait. After reading an article about nose fractures, Naruto learned that his nose might not be broken, and he really wished that it wasn't. 

When Naruto met up with Sakura while waiting for the school bell to ring, the girl had commented on how his nose made him look "less like a blond Ernie".

"So, what are we doing for your birthday?" Sakura asked while opening her locker. She pulled back the locker to door reveal a mirror hanging on the back of the door along many other assorted magnetic accessories and stickers.

"_We_ aren't doing anything. _I'm_ staying at home and going to sleep," Naruto replied, handing over his hoodie to Sakura. The girl took it and hung it on a hook in the back of her locker.

"Why not? You're turning eighteen in a week. I mean, it would be an even bigger deal if you were turning twenty-one, but still," she said, combing her fingers through her short hair.

"I'm spending my birthday with my mom. It's a personal thing, though I doubt she wouldn't mind if you join us," Naruto said, watching Sakura close her locker. "No, I bet she would love to meet you since you're her "baby's" best friend."

"Ooh, let me come with you. I really want to meet your mom," Sakura said with a whine.

"Fine," Naruto sighed.

Sakura smiled brightly and hooked her arm around Naruto's before leading the boy towards their homeroom. While walking through the classroom door, Naruto and Sakura walked past a man of average height with a scar across the bridge of his nose wearing his shoulder length dark brown hair in a ponytail. The button up shirt and the pair of slacks that he wore was very ruffled, as though he woke up tool late to iron them. Then again, Iruka Umino always looks like he just rolled out of bed.

The first thing Naruto saw when walked into homeroom was Sasuke sitting near the window in the back. He was looking away from them and staring out the window at the slightly cloudy sky. The youth wore a plain white long sleeve T-shirt and a pair of tight stonewash jeans. At Sasuke's feet sat his backpack. Naruto noted that Sasuke's backpack was completely black with white stuff all over it. Though he couldn't really tell what it was.

Naruto unlocked his arm from around Sakura's and sat in the second to last desk of the first row. The boy let his book bag drop to floor as he lowered himself into the plastic chair. Beside him, Sakura settle herself down in the desk to his right. She pulled out a spiral notebook with the word "English" scrawled on the cover. The girl pulled her hair into a side pony without the aid of a mirror before flipping open her notebook.

"God, I hate English so much," Sakura growled while scratching her pencil furiously against the lined paper. "I hate writing so much. Why do they always have to give us so much homework?"

Naruto wanted to inform Sakura that she should have stayed home and do her homework instead of going out with Ino, but bit his tongue.

"I don't know," he replied as the girl finished up on her homework.

At that moment, Naruto spotted Kiba in the doorway. He was wearing a tight long sleeve shirt with red basketball shirts. Beside him was Ino wearing purple top like last time. This girl really likes purple. Ino kissed Kiba on the cheek before going off to her own class. Iruka shut the classroom door once Kiba and a few other students entered the room. Kiba walked straight towards Naruto and took his seat in the desk in front of the blond boy. He threw his bag over the back of his chair and turned to face the very busy Sakura.

"Finishing up on your homework, Sakura?" the boy asked. Sakura looked from her notebook and glared harshly at Kiba from under her bubblegum pink bangs. Kiba's tan complexion turned chalky white as the blood rush from his face. Nervously laughing, the boy ran a hand through his unruly hair brown hair. "That was cold," he muttered.

Kiba turned around in his seat to face Naruto. His face screwed up in confusion. He must have noticed Naruto 'new look'. "Hey, didn't you used to wear glasses?" the brunet asked.

Naruto slouched down in his chair. "Yeah, but I wanted to go for a new look, y'know. Make myself look a little bit sexier to attract the ladies," he replied sarcastically. Sakura looked back up from her notebook and raised a questing eyebrow.

"Really?" Kiba asked. "That's great. I know a girl you might like you. You're probably her type- strong and silent."

As it seems, Kiba was too caught up in his own little world to notice sarcasm.

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand to silence her laugher. The mere thought of Naruto being described as strong and silent was enough to make her break out into a fit of giggles. She knew Kiba was clueless, but she didn't know he was _that_ clueless.

Kiba looked over at Sakura. "Wait, what's so funny?" he asked.

Hand still covering her mouth, Sakura waved him off. By this time, Sakura was doubled over her desk.

"It's not that funny," Naruto said in mock hurt. "I am strong and silent!"

This only caused Sakura to laugher harder into her hand.

"Yo, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kiba said. "Did I say something funny? What?"

Naruto couldn't help but smile at scene. Just watching Kiba freak out over nothing was enough to amuse Naruto. Not being in on inside jokes does make people feel stupid after all.

As Kiba and Sakura started to banter among each other, Naruto had the vague feeling that someone was watching them. Naruto looked over to his right to see a familiar black and white blur that was Sasuke. The boy's dark brown eyes met Naruto's light blue a moment before Sasuke quickly turned his head away. Naruto stared at the other boy questioningly. For whatever reason, Sasuke seemed to be staring at them for quiet a while. However, Naruto had a strong feeling that the other boy was only staring at him. It figures, Sasuke has been on Naruto's case since Thursday, but this was starting to become a bit unnerving. Especially since Sasuke already knew too much information about Naruto. Hell, he knew more about Naruto in two days than Sakura knew in two months. Maybe this was the paranoia talking, but Naruto paranoia driven instincts has never let him down before.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the classroom door. The door swung open and Sakon entered the room. Since Sakon was only late for homeroom, Iruka did not bother to ask for a late slip. The fair-haired boy looked over at Naruto and smirked as he pulled the door shut. He walked towards the chair behind Naruto and sat down.

Moments later, Naruto felt his chair being pushed forward. The fair-haired boy was using the basket under Naruto's chair as support so he could lean his chair back. Naruto decided that he should just ignore the other boy, but he knew ignoring Sakon would not do anything. Sakon smirked before letting his chair fall back in place. The fair-haired boy leaned forward and began to talk behind Naruto's ear.

"Hey, Naruto where were you Friday? I looked all over the school for you and I felt like a fool running allover the place. I mean, I just wanted to pay back that lone you gave me," Sakon said in a low, taunting hiss.

Naruto hand balled up into a fist He did not need to give into Sakon's taunting, no matter what. The fair-haired boy may spoil his last few minuets of homeroom, but he will not let him ruining the rest of his day and an outburst will do just that. Scowling, Naruto tired focus on was the many obscene pictures engraved into the surface of his desk. Naruto's index finger began to trace the picture of a urinating bulldog as he tried his hardest not to look up.

"Y'know, I never imagine that I'd actually break your nose. When I saw you after school on Thursday, I could hardly recognize you if it weren't for that shitty hoodie you wear," Sakon continued in that same acidic hiss that Naruto could only hear. "My friend broke his nose once. Yeah, it was crooked and leaned to the side. After a while, his entire nose caved in. It was nasty. There is probably good chance your nose will cave in since your family's too poor to afford get it fixed."

Naruto bit down on his bottom lip hard enough to leave an imprint. As hard as it was, Naruto could not get over the feeling of anger boiling up within his gut. Naruto did not noticed Kiba and Sakura looking him let alone the murderous glare Sasuke was sending Sakon.

"Your little girlfriend might not want to fuck you anymore after that happens. Can I have her? I promise to take care of her and fuck her real gently too, but then again, all chick like it rough," Sakon said while looking over at Sakura. Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration as she met Sakon's lecherous gaze with a sneer. "I promise to send you the video tape."

At that moment, the high-pitched ringing of the school bell tore through the tense air within the classroom. Naruto shot up from his desk and threw his book bag over his shoulder. The boy ignored the smug smirk Sakon was wearing on his face as he walked towards the classroom door.

"Wait," Iruka said as the class gathered their things to leave. "Before you go off, I have news for those you have art this period that you won't be going to your regular art teacher. For now on, you will be going to room one-sixteen B instead for class with Mister Rockwood- the new student teacher."

The blond boy raised an eyebrow. They were getting a student teacher a month into the school year?

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone tugging at his shirtsleeve. He looked over to see Sakura trying to him to follow her. One look at her pleading face was enough to compel Naruto to following her. The both of them disappeared into a sea of people as soon as they walked into hallways. With ease, Sakura zigzagged through the crowd of teenagers going off to their respected classes. Sakura's grip on Naruto's sleeve near loosened.

"I heard what he said to you," Sakura said.

"…"

"He's jerk and pig. I can't believe Mister Umino never said anything to him. You should have seen how pissed off Kiba looked. Usually he's pretty laid back, but when Sakon came along, all that went away, you know? And the funny thing is I could have sworn Sasuke was about to rip out Sakon's neck." Naruto's eyes widen at the mention of Sasuke's name. "He looked even madder than you and Kiba combined. It's weird."

"Sasuke saw that?" Naruto croaked out. This was starting to get way too creepy. Why does that guy find him so interesting?

"Yeah," Sakura nodded and stopped walking. "And he usually doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself."

Naruto had nothing to say.

As they walked towards the art room, Naruto caught a glimpse of Sasuke from the corner of his eye. The smell of sandalwood invaded Naruto's senses when Sasuke walked by him. For a moment, Naruto's entire body tense up. That scent was one that loathed the most. It brought to surface memories that Naruto wanted to stay sunken in the back of his mind.

The brunet swiftly walked into the classroom.

"See you at PE," Sakura while letting go of Naruto's sleeve. She waved at Naruto before walking over to classroom across the hall for her biology class.

When Naruto walked into the room, his attention was drawn to a blonde young woman sitting on a desk in the back of the room. She wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail with one side of her face cover with her bangs. Her build was slender and her bust was extremely small… A little bit too small... In fact, she had practically no breast at all... Finally, it hit Naruto. She was a man!

He was the student teacher Mister Umino was talking. Saying that Naruto was shock would be an understatement.

Recovering from his state of shock, Naruto picked a table at random. His choice was a table on the far side of room with four people sitting at it.

As he got closer, Naruto got a good look at the table's occupants. The closest person to him was a boy with short black hair and amber eyes. He looked up at Naruto with a vacant expression on his face as the blond boy sat next to him. Naruto could already tell he wasn't the brightest crayon in box.

On far end of the table was a bored looking boy wearing earrings in both ears. The way he wore his ponytail made silhouette of his head look like a pineapple. Across the table sat a petite Asian girl with long black hair and violet eyes. She doesn't seem all too interesting and kept her head down, so Naruto couldn't get a good look at her face. Next to her was a rather plump boy sandy brown hair and ruddy complexion. In plain view was a bag of Doritos in his hands.

"I'm Tobi," a voice called out from beside him.

Naruto turned around to see the not very bright crayon peering at him with those large amber eyes.

"Okay…" Naruto said. He didn't exactly know what to say to the other boy.

"What your name?" Tobi asked.

"Naruto."

Tobi cocked his head to the side. He looked as though he was thinking, and it looked painful. "That's an odd name," he said. "Who named you that, brother? Were they eating ramen when they named you Naruto, because I have a feeling that they were. Naruto belongs in ramen, not as a name."

Naruto's eyebrow slowly arched its way up to his airline. This one was five cans short of a six-pack.

From the end of the table, Naruto heard a snort.

"Alright," a tenor voice said from the front of the class. Naruto looked up to see Mister Rockwood standing in front of the whole class. "As ya'll know, I am Deidara Rockwood," he said while writing his name on the chalkboard in a sloppy scrawl. "I am a student teacher, and you guys are my first class."

"Why does he look like a woman, brother?" Tobi whispered from beside Naruto.

"I don't know," Naruto whispered back.

"I have a good memory, so I'll be able to remember you names just by today's roll call, un. No need for little cards, it's all up here in my head. Now, when I call your name, please raise your hand. By the way, the seat you're in now will be your assign seat for the rest of the year," Deidara said. "Chouji Akimichi!"

The plump boy raised his hand and continued on eating his chips.

Oh hell, he has to sit with Tobi for the next nine months.

"Brother, that means we will be sitting next to each other for now on," Tobi said.

"We are jumping with excitement," the pineapple drawled from his spot at the end of the table.

Tobi blinked. "No you're not."

"Oh, you caught us," the pineapple said in a sarcastic tone.

"Okay…" Tobi turned to Naruto. "He is bit odd, isn't he, brother?"

The pot just called the kettle black.

"No," Naruto replied flatly.

"Hinata Hyuuga!" Deidara called out.

The girl sitting across from Naruto stood up with her hand raised. Naruto was dead wrong when he said she wasn't interesting. She was very interesting. She had the largest breasts Naruto has ever seen on an Asian girl. Those things had to be at least D-cups. There was not a doubt in Naruto's mind she wasn't very popular with the boys.

"Here," she said in soft voice before sitting back down.

"Your breasts are big, sister," Tobi said to the girl.

Hinata turned a violent shade of red. She let out a yelp and quickly covered her breasts by crossing her arms over them. Once again, she held her head low and refused to look back up. As it seems, Tobi is very smooth around girls.

"Way to go, Tobi. I bet she really likes you," the pineapple quipped. "I'm Shikamaru," he said to Naruto. "And I already know your name. This is all very troublesome."

"Shikamaru Nara!"

"Here!"

Deiadara continued to go down the list of names until…

"Tobi Vandroogenbroeck!" Deidara yelled out, badly mispronouncing Vandroogenbroeck.

Upon hearing his name, Tobi quickly shot his hand in the air.

"Here!"

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto raised his hand without saying anything.

Tobi was once again staring at Naruto. "You have a really odd name, brother."

Naruto's face screwed up in incredulity. Without out a doubt, this was going to be a long year.

* * *

Grumbled to himself, Sasuke grabbed a pail of clothing out his duffle bag. If there were one class that Sasuke hated the most it would be PE. Not the he was a lazy slob, or anything like that, but it's just that he smoked… a lot… five cigarettes a day to be precise. Sasuke could quit, but he doesn't want to right now. Not only was Sasuke's need for a caner stick his reason for hating PE, but the gym teachers were some of freakiest people you will ever met. Do they not only pat - more like smack - you on the back, but also seem to find ways to make him and the rest of the world feel uncomfortable. In addition, Sasuke hated the smell of sweat, and that's why he hated PE. 

Sasuke sat down on the bench and began to take off his sneakers. Once his sneakers were off, Sasuke took off his shirt and stuffed it in his duffle bag. The boy then stood up and took off his jeans. Sasuke sat back down to stuff them in the duffle bag along with his shirt. The boy then slipped into his gym uniform that consists of a plain white T-shirt with blue trimmings and a pair of ash gray sweat pants. After changing into his gym uniform, Sasuke put his sneakers away and pulled out a pair of Fila running sneakers. His other sneakers weren't meant for running.

As Sasuke tied his shoes, he caught a glimpse of Naruto walking by his row of lockers. Naruto had been so upset earlier thanks to Sakon. Although Sasuke could not hear what Sakon was saying Naruto, he knew it was bad enough to make Kiba straighten up. It seems that Sasuke will have a little talk with Sakon after school.

Sasuke put his duffle bag into his locker and closed it before following the group of boys out into the grassy field surrounded by a brick-colored track. Waiting in front of the track was a man and a woman. They were wearing tracksuits like all PE teachers, but that was the only thing they had in common with normal PE teachers.

The male PE teacher was a tan, brawny man with a square jaw line. His unnaturally shiny black hair styled in an immaculate bowl cut. The tracksuit that he wore was a hideous shade of blue-green and worst part was that he wore the whole suit. As if that wasn't enough, the man had the biggest, bushy eyebrows Sasuke has ever seen. Standing beside him was a woman of average height. She wasn't bad to look at, but not exactly Sasuke's type. She wore hair black hair up in a flared out pony tail, and had eyes like hawk. Unlike the man, she only wore the pants to her light plum tracksuit. Although she wasn't nearly as odd looking as the first PE teacher, she was just as eccentric as he was. Their names are Anko Mitarashi and Maito Gai, and they were PE teachers at Little Leaf High School.

"Alright, you all know drill- girls on right and boys on the left," Anko instructed in a tone that left no room for argument. Vaguely, Sasuke wondered if she used to be a drill instructor.

Without a question, the large group made up of two classes divided into a group of boys and a group of girls. Standing not more than ten feet in front of Sasuke was Naruto. The blond boy was standing next to a very chatty Kiba. The talkative brunet was a very hard bug to shake off. Sasuke had a first hand witness to that in seventh grade. The two boys were wearing the same uniform as the rest of the class. The exception was Naruto horrible choice of sneakers, and Kiba's extremely baggy sweat pants.

For what ever reason, Sasuke fount Naruto to be interesting. Of course, the other boy wasn't particularly good looking, or had the best personally, and far from being a social butterfly. Naruto didn't seem to like him at all, and his reluctance to talk to Sasuke on Friday proves that. However, that was Sasuke's fault. Maybe asshole isn't the best way to go when trying to make an impression. Usually Sasuke wouldn't give two shits about what people think about him, but with Naruto it was different. Okay, that would be a lie; Sasuke doesn't really care what Naruto thinks him. All that matters is Naruto not having a very negative impression of him, and if it ends up that way, Sasuke will just have to move on.

The blond boy surely does have an odd effect on Sasuke, and it was more than being unwanted.

"Two laps around the track like always! You can jog or walk! Anyone who does not finish their two laps in time will have to do an additional lap!" Gai said to the two groups. "At the sound of the whistle start your lap!"

Sasuke braced himself as Gai blew into his whistle. In front of him, Naruto took off in a fairly well paced jog. Sasuke decided to walk out this lap. There is no need to wear himself out this early. Two girls from the class they shared PE with came up beside Sasuke as he walked at casually pace. To his right was a girl with the worst fake tan Sasuke has ever seen. Her hair was severely damaged from bleaching, and she liked much like an Oompa-Loompa. Sasuke hated Oompa-Loompas. To his left was a petite brunette girl who would look prettier if her face wasn't caked in makeup. Like most girls, the two wore their shirt tight and took the elastic out of their sweat pants.

"Hey, Sasuke, want to come to my party?" the makeup smeared girl asked.

"Yeah, Kim's parents are going out of town for the weekend," the Ooopa-Loompa said.

A party sounds more than nice.

"Hn, whatever," Sasuke grunted, nearly stepping into a small ditch.

The two girls beamed at each other.

"You can bring anyone you want, Sasuke," Kim said.

"Including any older boys you may know," the Oompa-Loompa said suggestively.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He doubted any of his other "friends" would want to come to high school party, though they might crash it. Actually, the thought of Suigetsu crashing a party for the sole purpose of drinking everything in sight was mildly amusing.

"Who else is coming?" Sasuke asked.

Kim bit her lip and start to twirl her curly brown hair around her finger. "Well…, Kiba's defiantly coming and maybe Sakura."

"Ugh," the Oompa-Loompa groaned. "If Kiba's coming, then that cow Ino's coming with him. Gawd, I hate that stuck up bitch. She thinks she is so hot with her fugly ass purple shirts."

Sasuke snorted. Ino was better looking than the Oompa-Loompa, and Ino could kick that tanning bed victim's ass. If Sasuke wasn't such a nice guy, he would run up to Ino right at that moment and tell her that the Oompa-Loompa hates her shirts. A good catfight always brightens up the day.

Deciding that he had enough of these two, Sasuke started to jog off to start his second lap.

"Hey Sasuke you promises to come to my party, right!?" Kim yelled out as he moved father and father away from her.

Sasuke simply waved his hand dismissively and continued onward. The brunet spotted a familiar head of golden blonde hair in the distance. Jogging along with him was both Kiba and Sakura. Sasuke noticed that Naruto liked his shirt to fit naturally, and Sasuke could a get a good view of the other boy's backside. However, Sasuke would prefer a pair of track shorts instead of sweat pants…

Sasuke groaned to himself. Oh god, he was starting to get desperate.

It happened in a flash; Naruto stepped into a ditch and he quickly lost his balance. The blond boy fell forward and Sakura gasped as the boy made contact with the gravel. Groaning, Naruto managed to push himself up. He winced from the pain coming from his arms, hands, and knees. The boy bent his arm to look at his elbow. The boy grimaced as his saw a large graze covering his forearm and on the palm of his hands was a similar wound.

Naruto groaned; why does he have to be so injury prone?

Carefully, Naruto rose to his feet with little aid. The boy let out a choked scream as sharp pain exploded from his ankle. Before Naruto could fall back down, an arm wrapped around his waist. Naruto turned his head to see Sasuke at his side. The other boy took Naruto's arm and wrapped it around his neck. Naruto could feel the blood rushing to his face as Sasuke pulled his body towards his own.

Before Naruto could yell a string of obscenities at Sasuke, Gai came running up to them.

"What happened here?" the man asked.

"Naruto fell," Sakura said. "He just tripped and I think he twisted his ankle."

"Is that true?" Gai asked Naruto directly.

Naruto shook his head.

Gai nodded in understanding. "Alright, Sasuke, take him to nurse's office."

Naruto's jaw dropped. Why can't Kiba take him instead? Why does it have to be Sasuke at of all people? The boy groaned; whatever plan god has for him sucks.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders dismissively and started to walk off the field. They spent the small trip towards the main building in absolute silence. Naruto refused to look at Sasuke. Why should he? They were practically doing a humiliation parade in front of the class. Moreover, Naruto did not want Sasuke see how red his face was, though he knew the other boy could see the red tint in the tip of his ears. That would only add to his embarrassment, and Naruto has had enough embarrassing moments around Sasuke. Naruto knew Sakon was going to give him grief over this incident tomorrow.

Sasuke looked over at the boy to his right. As it seems, Naruto had retreated into his shell of taciturnity. Who could blame the boy? He had no say and who could escort him to the nurse's office, or was he ever given the chance to voice his objection. Of course, Sasuke did not feel bad for Naruto. It was rather amusing to see the other boy so fired up. Sasuke groaned to himself; he really needed a hobby. Pissing off your classmate should not be exciting. Especially if said classmate is a boy with anti-social demeanor that is only equaled to that of your own.

"I can walk by myself," Naruto grumbled.

Once again, Naruto proves he can be a real horse's rear.

Sasuke snorted. "I'd like to see that," he replied coolly.

"If you let me go, I could," Naruto said. Sasuke could have sworn he heard a growl in the blond's voice.

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow; Naruto was indeed a very stubborn mule. Smirk appeared upon Sasuke's face as a rather evil thought ran through his mind.

"Alright then, since you say that you can walk, than it must be true," he said, loosening his grip around Naruto's waist. With one swift move, Sasuke pulled away from the other boy.

Now without his main support, Naruto quickly lost balanced and in a desperate attempt at regain solid footing, the boy shifted his weight onto his bad foot. Naruto hiss in pain and braced himself against the side of school building. Beyond annoyed, Naruto looked up at Sasuke. The other boy was standing in the open door with his arms cross wearing that same mask of indifference.

"I thought you could walk on your own," Sasuke said.

Naruto glared up at the brunet. He should have known Sasuke would do something like this. Sasuke has made it his main mission to humiliate him, and Naruto's cheeks could not be any redder than they are now. Refusing to let not a drop of pride to be swallowed, Naruto began to walk along the side of the building with only the tip of right toes touching the ground. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the display of stubbornness. Slowly, but surely Naruto made it to the door. He refused to look at Sasuke as he hobbled his way into the school.

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Just watching Naruto hobble like that made him feel guilty, and on the tip of tongue was a sentence that few would ever expect him to say. "I could carry you," Sasuke said, his voice unusually hoarse.

Naruto's limping came to a halt, did Sasuke just said that? Mistrusting his own ability to hear, Naruto looked over his shoulder.

"What?" He asked.

Sasuke sighed; this was starting to get awkward.

"I said that I could carry you," Sasuke replied, trying his best to keep his voice steady and firm.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the other boy. What was Sasuke trying to achieve?

"No," Naruto said, turned back around.

The pervious sense of awkwardness vanished and disbelief took its place. Sasuke marched over towards Naruto, and wrapped an arm around the other boy's waist. Naruto let out an uncharacteristic yelped as Sasuke pulled their bodies together. During the sudden movement, Naruto stepped down on his right foot. The blond boy bit down on his bottom lip to keep himself from screaming in pain. Sasuke felt a stab of guilt in his gut when he saw Naruto in pain. Swallowing the guilt, Sasuke wrapped Naruto's arm around his neck.

"If you don't cooperate, I will carry you. Rather you like it or not," Sasuke said. His tone was intimidating and left no room for argument.

Naruto's ears once again turn bright scarlet. The boy huffed and relaxed in Sasuke strong grip. Sighing, Sasuke went off to finish the remainder of their trip. That horrid blanket of silence covered the two again, and Naruto continued to refuse looking at Sasuke. While Naruto's profile wasn't bad to look at, it was a sight that got old. Deciding that some of tension should go away, Sasuke casually ran his hand up and down the side of Naruto's stomach. Naruto choked back his laugher. He could not ignore the tickling sensation running up down his right side. Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto's shoulders twitched violently. The blond boy finally gave in and his laughs filled the quiet hallway.

"Stop it… hehe…, Sas-Sasuke! This is… not funny! Cut it out!" Naruto managed to choke out in between laugher.

Upon request, Sasuke stopped. By this time, they had made it to nurse's office. This time Tsunade's door was decorated with cutouts of leaves and pumpkins. Sasuke knocked on the door and entered without waiting for Tsunade's permission. The woman had been typing on the computer when they came in. She looked up and closed her laptop.

"What happened this time?" Tsunade asked while standing up.

"I twisted my ankle," Naruto said.

Tsunade raised a well-groomed eyebrow. "So, you can talk for yourself? Alright then, have a seat, take off your shoe and roll up your pant leg, so I can take a look at it."

Naruto nodded and went for the closest chair he can find. With a little help from Sasuke, the boy sat down. Gingerly, Naruto took off his sneaker and sock. He winced as his knuckles brushed up against his swelling ankle while he rolled up his pant leg. Tsunade bent down in front of Naruto and carefully lifted the boy's ankle into view. The woman hummed and gently touch Naruto's ankle with two fingers.

"Since you came in draped on Mister Uchiha, I'm assuming that you cannot put weight on it. Am I correct?" Tsunade said. Naruto nodded. "I see. How did you sprain your ankle?"

"During warm up, I stepped in a ditch," Naruto answered truthfully.

"Alright," Tsunade sighed while standing back up. "I have to ask you one thing; did you hear a pop when you fell?"

Naruto shook his head. "No."

Tsunade nodded. "Your ankle may or not be broken, but your injury can't be "shaken off". Immediate X-rays is need, so you'll have to take off early," she said. Tsunade then turned to look at Sasuke. "Mister Uchiha, will you do us a favor and get Naruto's things?"

Sasuke nodded and left without a question.

Tsunade walked over to her medical supple cabinet and gathered two rolls of compression bandages. She walked back over towards Naruto and began to wrap his ankle starting from his toes.

"You always had bad ligaments," She stated. "I don't get why you don't wrap up you wrist and ankles before excursing. However, I don't blame you for your injury, that ditch as been on that track for the longest. At least four students twisted their ankles now. You have a rather deep contusion on your shin, so I'll have to wrap that up as well."

Tsunade took the roll of bandages into her and began to wrap the beige colored bandage around Naruto leg.

"You do know that I have to come with you to the ER, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"And you're staying back home until your leg is healed. It's better if I'm there during your rehab, so don't complain about me taking your independence away. I know that you want to be babied," Tsunade chuckled.

"I don't want to be babied, Tsu-mom!" Naruto sputtered.

"Damn right I'm your mother, and you loved to your hair stroked and you know it, now shut up while I get ice for your leg. We're leaving for the ER afterwards," Tsunade said while heading towards the freezer. She took out a prepared bag of ice and wrapped it her scarf. He went back to Naruto and handed him the bag.

"Thanks," Naruto said, lifting his ridged leg into the row of seat.

As Naruto placed the bag of ice on his leg, Tsunade began to talk, "Jiraiya insisted that should give you your first beer on your birthday, but I quickly slapped that idea out of his head-"

Tsunade's sentence was caught off by a knock at the door. Sasuke walked in and stopped in front of Naruto. The brunet bent down and placed Naruto's bag on the table to the boy's left. Naruto bit his lip; as much as he liked to deny it, Sasuke has been very helpful. The guy could have easily punched Naruto in the stomach the first time the blond got snappy. Sighing Naruto decided that Sasuke wasn't bad.

"Uh…," Naruto started. "Thanks."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in Naruto's character. Whatever bought upon such politeness?

"You're welcomed," he said. "And you should call Sakura later. She's worried about you."

Naruto nodded. "I will," he said as Sasuke walked out of room.

Yeah, Sasuke wasn't that bad.

* * *

Lol, Sasuke in this chapter acted a bit like pre-chuunin exams Sasuke, didn't he? I got the idea of busty!Hinata from a Naruto Forums thread dedicated to proving that post time skip Hinata isn't fat, but has really big boobs. They had an outline of her boobs and everything, so it must be true! Shikamaru is awesome as wise ass, though in canon he's too lazy to use sarcasm. -sigh- 


	4. Meet the Parents

Sorry for the unfashionably late update, I had a bout of writers block and had to rewrite this entire chapter. The original was very crappy, boring, and really wasn't all that good. Also, I really do hope that the continuity errors didn't throw anyone off. See, the plot bunny of this particular story was thought up _**months**_ ago. Like, way back in December of last year. I really didn't have much of a plot when I wrote the first chapter in May, and just got around to brainstorming in June.

The basic plot line was bully victim/anti-social Naruto saved by bullies by bored/disinterested/asshole Sasuke who hates everything and they have hot monkey sex. I tired writing this story at least four times, and the forth try ended up being satisfying. And there's the brief history of _"The Ugly Duckling"_.

**Edit: **I forgot to mention that I am about to start two new stories, so updates will be less, though I hope to crank out another chapter five by September the fifteenth at the latest. Expect my Inuyasha fanfic to be out this month, though I really don't trust myself that much. My other pending Naruto fic should be out by October. You can read each summary on my profile, where other abandoned plot bunnies were.

Back to your regularly appointed program.

**I don not own Naruto, and I were a professional writer, I certainly would not be writing Naruto. My story would be about gay vampire hunters who are vampires and werewolves with lots of kinky stuff and lots melodrama set in the future. In fact, forget the werewolves and vampires. **

* * *

**The Ugly Duckling**

**Chapter IV: Meet the Parents**

By The Teeth Collector

* * *

Tsunade did not let Naruto go home after their visit to the ER. When Tsunade makes up her mind, nothing that could change it and negotiations will not work. Their week together was spent in rehab and doing choirs. Tsunade badgered Naruto into tell her the truth about his broken nose and glasses. Naturally, she was disappointed in him. "You've never talked about what's going on in your life to me. You never have, and I doubt you ever will," she said to him. Her words stabbed Naruto in heart. How could he have been such a crappy son? 

By Friday, Naruto was well enough to go back to school. The boy was less than excited about that since Tsunade will insist that she drive him there. That woman was as stubborn as a mule, and Naruto gained that same trait from her.

Naruto looked over at the profile of Tsunade, and groaned. "Can you please let me out here? I can walk the rest of the way. It's only two blocks," Naruto whined.

Tsunade cringed at the incredibly scratchy, high-pitched tone of Naruto's voice. Just how boy Naruto's age gained such an annoying whine, she will never know. The woman gritted her teeth and continued to drive, but Naruto was not going to let her ignore him.

"_Mooom_," Naruto whined. "I really want to walk by myself! _Pleeease!_"

"Fine!" Tsunade yelled. "Fine, fine, I'll let you out, but please stop whinnying," the woman sighed. "I still do not know how you got that whine."

On the inside, Naruto was cheering; his whine always worked on Tsunade. Normally, Tsunade would not be persuaded to change her mind, but Naruto's whine annoys her enough to do the job. Although, his whine does work, Naruto doesn't use it very much. It's his "secret weapon" of sorts.

"Do not expect me to pick you up at a corner, Naruto. I am expecting you to come to my office at three o'clock. Got it?" Tsunade said, pulling over.

"Fine," Naruto said, climbing out of the car. He did not walk very far when he saw Tsunade's car drove passed him. The boy sighed, filling his lungs with chilly October air. The leaves were already turning orange, filling the tree lined blocks with multi-colored foliage. Autumn was one of Naruto's favorite seasons only for the leaves. Surely, many other people had to agree that this ugly-beautiful town looked best covered with a blanket of orange.

At least that's what Naruto likes to believe.

Naruto took in the lovely sight as he finished the rest of his trip. He paid no mind to the other students marching towards school building. Up ahead, Naruto saw a familiar sliver mini-van parked at the curb. The figure of petite teenage girl jumped out of the front seat and weaved at the driver. She turned around to see Naruto walking towards her and smiled.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said.

"Naruto, oh my god, I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up! I was so worried about you!" Sakura yelled.

"I was staying at my mother's place, and trust me, Sakura, I tired calling your place, but your father said you were staying with your mother this week and he didn't have her number," Naruto said all in one breath.

Sakura's cheek burned with embarrassment. "Oh," she said. "Oh yeah, Kiba was asking for you. I swear he's like an abandoned puppy. Once you feed him, he'll never leave you alone. I don't even really like him, and he still doesn't leave me alone. Argh!"

"What the hell is wrong with that guy anyway?" Naruto asked.

The girl merely shrugged. "Dunno, but he's always been this way. First, it was me in kindergarten, than Kiba somehow managed to get into Sasuke's comfort zone."

Naruto's eyebrow shot up to his hairline. "And no one ever tells him to back off?" he asked in unmasked suspicion.

"Tell me, Naruto, do you even have the heart to tell Kiba to piss off?"

This was defiantly something Naruto had to think about for a moment. While moderately annoying, Kiba was none-treating, and the other boy was far from being an asshole- unlike so many other people Naruto has dealt with. "No," the boy said.

"Exactly," Sakura said in triumph. "And I've noticed your new glasses. They look nice."

Naruto was taken back. It wasn't everyday he got compliments. "They're just cheap glasses that my incurrence could cover. They're nothing special."

Sakura sighed. "Just take the compliment, Naruto."

"Okay."

"By the way, there is some house party going on Saturday, and I was wondering if you like to go with me. I could bring anyone I like, so I thought you'd like to go, but I know that isn't you thing, and I won't mind if you don't want to go," The girl said, chewing down on her bottom lip anxiously.

If Naruto didn't know any better, it sounded like Sakura was asking him out on a date. "It's fine, I'll go with you," he said.

Sakura's expression brightened. "Really? That's great! Thank you so much, Naruto!"

Without as much as a warning, Sakura let out a squeal, lunged herself at Naruto and pulled the bewildered boy into a tight hug. Naruto awkwardly pat Sakura on the back as he watched the few students around them gawk at the spectacle the created.

Naruto knew that his ears were starting to turn red.

"Hey, Sakura, you're making a scene," he said, tapping Sakura's shoulder.

"Oh, sorry about that," Sakura said, pulling away. For a moment, Sakura's expression turned blank. "Oh shit, Kiba's coming this way. Talk to him," she whispered.

"What the hell do you expect me to tell him?" Naruto whispered back.

"Anything!"

"Yo, Naruto, good to see you back," Kiba said throwing an arm over Naruto's shoulders.

"Yeah, hey, Kiba," Naruto said.

Form the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Ino walking passed him. The girl was purple like all ways, but this time she wore her long platinum blonde hair down in soft curls instead of a ponytail. She walked over to Sakura and took the other girl by the arm. The girl said absolutely nothing to Naruto as she coaxed Sakura into leaving with her. Like the rest of the girls in Naruto's year, Ino generally ignored him. This never bothered him, though. He was never very interested in the opposite sex to begin with. It really amazes Naruto that Sakura continued to be moderately popular despite being friends with him. Maybe the rest of her girlfriends thought she was taking him in as a project, or something. If that's the cast, they must be mad at her for not making any progress.

"Hey, let's talk man-to-man," Kiba said, catching Naruto attention.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Was Kiba about to tell him about the birds and the bees?

"Is Sakura your girl?" Kiba asked. Naruto wasn't at all surprised that Kiba misinterpreted Sakura and his relationship as a romantic one. There is some crazy bullshit rule out there that men and women cannot be friends since they would end up having sex with each other. "I mean you two seem _really_ close. Ino says you two have been buddies since the end of last year, and I've seen you a lot together, too. What's the deal?"

Naruto took a deep breath before starting. "There isn't anything going on between us. I mean, Sakura's like my sister, or something. Besides, she told you there was nothing between us."

"She did?" Kiba asked, baffled.

"Yeah, it was last week. You told her I was "scrawny" to her boyfriend and she told you that I wasn't. Don't you remember that at all?"

"No not really. I have a really bad memory."

Naruto was about to open his mouth when the bell rung.

"Wow, that's quick," Kiba said. "C'mon, we'd better get going before they lock us out."

* * *

Naruto heard not a word about Monday from Sakon. In fact, the other boy didn't even look in Naruto's direction. As much as Naruto hated to admit it, he felt even more restless by Sakon's disinterest. Even when in the clear, Naruto's paranoia gets the best of him. Naruto's paranoia was also informing him that Sasuke was watching him. Now, Naruto was not the type to call someone a stalker. Stalkers have information on their targets, and that only thing Sasuke knew about Naruto was that they live in the same neighborhood and the neighborhood where Naruto worked... 

On second though, it would be best if Naruto were to change his laundromat. Moegi won't miss him that much.

"- your mother," a voice said, snapping Naruto out of deep thought.

The boy flinched slightly and looked up to see Sakura taking pulling her jacket out of her locker.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I said; "What kind of person is your mother." I just find it weird that we've been friends for almost six months and I've never met her. Hell, you've never told me anything about your family, yet I'm going over your parent's place for your birthday dinner."

"Oh, um, she's nice, I guess. And she's blonde, like me."

"Well, that's a vague description," Sakura said, closing her locker. She threw on her jacket and book bag, and began to walk off.

"You'll find out what type of person she is when you met her. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, diner's tonight since I'm not staying home with my mom anymore. I hope that's okay," Naruto said, going after the girl.

"No, that's fine. I have no plains for tonight anyway, so I'll just tell my mom where I am."

"Oh, so you're staying with your mom this week."

"Yeah, though I'd rather be staying with dad. For obvious reasons," Sakura laughed. "She's such a hard-ass, and she doesn't allow me to talk on my cell at all. Argh! I miss living with dad, but I miss my little brother, though. Seeing him is enough pay off for putting up with her and her fucking husband. You're lucky, Naruto, you get to live by yourself, and you don't constantly have a hovering mother breathing down your back all the time."

"You don't live with her 24/7, so she isn't really "breathing down your neck all the time.", y'know," Naruto said.

"I know, but you get the point," Sakura sighed. "So, is she picking us up, or what?"

"Yeah, she's picking us up, but I have to visit the nurse's office first."

Sakura raised her hair, but did not make a comment. The two walked for a while until they came upon a brightly decorated door.

"Uh, Sakura, I have something important to tell you," Naruto said, hesitantly.

"Go ahead."

Naruto took a deep breath. "Well, ah, mymom'stheschoolnurse."

"What?" the girl asked, she wasn't quite sure she heard Naruto right.

"My mom is the school nurse."

Sakura stared at Naruto as though the boy had grown another head. "But she's so young and you don't even look like her."

"I know, I know. It seems impossible, but she is. And, trust me, that woman is not as young as she looks. Do you believe me?"

"Well," Sakura said, thoughtfully. "You've never laid to me before, and I'm not all that shocked by that. Not that I expected Miss Matsura to be your mother, but I was caught off guard. I don't understand is why you didn't tell me she was your mother. Now, I would understand if I was a boy in her official-unofficial fan club."

"Well, we haven't really been talking to each other lately… Do you want to go in now or what?" Naruto said.

"Fine," Sakura said.

Without bothering to knock, Naruto pulled Sakura into the nurse's office. Tsunade came back out into the main part of her office when she heard them come in. She placed her already packed tot bag on her desk and looked at the pink haired girl standing next to Naruto.

"I remember you, you're Sakura Haruno, right?" the woman said with a warm smile on her face.

"Yes, ma'am," Sakura replied in a stiff formal tone.

"Please, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old," Tsunade smile never faded as she talked. "Naruto never really told me about you, but I see Naruto has an eye for pretty girls," the woman chuckled.

Sakura's face turned beet red. "It's not like that," the girl stammered.

"Oh my god, she's ready embarrassing me," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"I know, I'm just teasing you two," Tsunade sighed and picked her tot bag off the table before walking towards the two teenagers. "Come on, you two, we can talk on ride home."

Both Naruto and Sakura moved out of Tsunade's way. The woman let them walk out first before locking up for the night.

"Naruto," Sakura said in a whisper as they followed Tsunade to the staff parking lot. "Something doesn't seem quite right. You said that you and your mother weren't on speaking terms, right?" Naruto nodded. "Than how come you're celebrating your birthday with her? What other secrets are you keeping from me?"

Naruto sighed. He knew this question was coming, and he hated answering questions. "We got back on speaking terms lately. Now, shut up and keep walking."

Sakura shot Naruto a nasty glare. "Naruto Uzumaki, don't dare tell me to shut up!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Humph," Sakura huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Behave you two," Tsunade said halfheartedly from ahead of them.

Sakura's face turned ten shades of red in realization that Tsunade was in earshot of their childish quarreling. Naruto couldn't help but to laugh at this.

"I'm sitting in the back," Naruto announced as they walked out into the staff parking lot.

"Come on, it's right this way," Tsunade said pointing the direction of a sliver car. Once they were close enough, Tsunade unlocked the doors. Naruto climbed into the backseat while Sakura climbed into the front and Tsunade into the driver's side.

"Naruto has told me about you, Sakura," Tsunade said while starting up the engine.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Naruto who merely shrugged. "He has?" she asked in thinly veiled shock.

"Yes, he has."

While the statement was not a complete lie, Naruto has not talked very much of Sakura. He only told Tsunade the girl's name, age, and a little about her personality. It was not as if Naruto constantly talked about Sakura while staying with Tsunade.

"Oh, well, he's never told me about you being his mother, Miss Matsura," Sakura said.

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. "He did? Do you have any idea how much that hurts me, Naruto? You didn't even care to tell Sakura about me," the woman said in mock hurt.

Naruto slumped into his seat as he felt his ears burn from embarrassment. God knows this situation could have been worst. Naruto winced at the thought of either Jiraiya or Nawaki being in the car at that moment. He could hear their voices in his head. Teasing him, and calling him the "worst boyfriend alive". Naruto would have died from the embarrassment, and Sakura would no doubt join him.

"It doesn't really bother me that much, though I don't see why he wouldn't tell me," Sakura said. "He's secretive, y'know? Like a spy."

Tsunade laughed. "He sure is a very secretive person, alright. When Naruto was being potty trained, he wouldn't even tell me when pooped himself."

Naruto heard Sakura giggled from her seat, and flushed harder than ever.

"Can we _please_ talk about something other than me!" the Naruto yelled.

"Alright, alright," Tsunade sighed. "We'll find another topic, if it makes you feel better. So, how are things going at school? This is a question for the both of you, but I don't mind if you don't answer, Naruto."

"Naruto fond an adorable little puppy named Kiba," Sakura said. "But see, Kiba's not actually a puppy, but a boy that acts like one."

"That's interesting," Tsunade said. "I'm guessing Naruto's keeping this "puppy"?"

"No, the "puppy" is keeping Naruto. The "puppy" is clueless."

"Here we are," Tsunade said as the drove down a block lined with timber decorated terraced houses. She pulled over in front of an end terrace, which one could only assume was her home. As the three of them climbed out the car, Naruto spotted a very familiar black sports car parked not very far down the block. Jiraiya must be already there, but luckily, Nawaki's car was nowhere in sight.

"Naruto hurry up! We don't have all day!" Tsunade said from the porch.

"Fine, I'm coming," Naruto said. The boy slowly made his way up the flight of stone stair. Although his ankle did not hurt as bad as it did yesterday, Naruto still felt unstable on his feet. Tsunade was waiting with the screen door open atop of the stairs. The sight of Jiraiya charming Sakura greeted Naruto when he walked into the living room. The two looked towards his direction when Tsunade closed the door behind them.

"Hey there, little buddy!" Jiraiya boisterous voice filled the air as he talked. The man walked over towards Naruto and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. "I haven't seen you in a while. What gives?"

"I've been busy," Naruto said, hesitantly.

"Busy, huh?" The man replied, skeptically. "Just because you and my sister were having a shared bitch fit does mean you have to ignore me."

"Sorry," Naruto said, taking in every word of Jiraiya's scolding.

"Ya damn right your sorry, brat."

"Make yourself at home, Sakura. Dinner will be served in an hour, so if there is anything you need, do not hesitated to call me, alright?" Tsunade said.

Sakura nodded and said, "I will."

Tsunade smiled. "Good, me and Jiraiya will be in the kitchen while you two entertain yourselves." The turned around and started to walk in the direction of the dining room door. Suddenly she stop in her tracks and turned back around to face Naruto. "Oh, I almost forgot," Tsunade said. "Naruto Shizune regrets not being able to make it today, but she did send you a card. It's on the dining room table and do remember to write to her, okay?"

"Okay, I will," Naruto said.

Satisfied with Naruto's answer, Tsunade nodded and dragged Jiraiya through the dinging room door.

"Oh my god, Naruto, your uncle is so nice. He's really cool for an old guy!" the girl said once the two adults were out of the room.

Sakura was caught; hook line and sinker by Jiraiya's charm.

Naruto sighed; even at his old age, Jiraiya still manages to woo young women. Sakura was only sixteen-years-old, and Jiraiya still could not resist flirting with her. Naruto will never know how that man's poor wife puts up with her lecherous husband.

"Oh my god, is that a pig?" Sakura screeched, pointing in the direction of the dining room door.

Naruto looked over to where Sakura was pointing. Standing in front of the door was a small pink pot-bellied piglet. The piglet let out a snort as though it was insulted and waddled its way towards Naruto. The piglet let out a tiny squeal of excitement and started to circle around Naruto's legs.

"Awww, he's so cute," Sakura said, bending down to pet the piglet.

"Oh yeah, this is Ton-Ton, and _she's_ my mom's baby," Naruto said.

"Oh, she's adorable," Sakura said. Before Naruto could stop her, the girl absentmindedly picked up Ton-Ton.

"No, don't, Sakura!"

However, it was too late, Ton-Ton began to squeal loudly and thrash about in Sakura hold. Unable to calm the panicking piglet, Sakura dropped Ton-Ton back onto the floor. Naruto barely contain a wince as he watched Ton-Ton make contact with the very hard wooden floor. The piglet let out a tiny wine, but managed to push herself back onto her feet. Naruto let out a sigh of relief; at least Ton-Ton's ankle didn't break.

"Don't do that!" Naruto yelled.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I didn't know," The girl moaned, covering her mouth with her hands.

Naruto sighed and bent down to inspect Ton-Ton. "I know, I know. It's not your fault. I just was worried about ton-ton. Pigs don't like being picked up. They don't like heights, and you shouldn't have drop Ton-Ton like that. She isn't made for jumping, and she could have broken her hip."

"Oh my god, I could have broken her hip!" the girl moaned, louder than before.

Naruto's eyes widen as he noticed Sakura's eyes starting to water. Oh god, she was going to cry. As if on cue, Sakura started to sob into her hands. Naruto shot and place both his hands her narrow shoulders.

"C'mon, stop crying," Naruto pleaded. "Please stop crying. Ton-Ton's fine. See? Look she's her same old happy, piggy self."

"I- know, b-but I could- have br-broken her h-hi-hip!" Sakura wailed louder than ever and flanged herself at Naruto.

Naruto stood there motionless as Sakura continued to cry into the crook of his neck. The boy groaned; he was such a fucking jerk.

* * *

The sound of Ton-Ton squealing loudly caused Tsunade to flinch as she poured a cup of coffee. The woman cursed under her breath as she spilt coffee all over the kitchen counter. Tsunade quickly grabbed a towel and began to wash the mess that she made all the while muttering a stream of obscenities. 

"What the hell was that?" Jiraiya asked from across the table.

"Sounded like Ton-Ton, but Naruto can handle it," Tsunade handed Jiraiya the hot mug of coffee who in turn gave his sister a small thanks. "But now we have more important things to talk about," the woman said, walking over to refrigerator.

"Right," Jiraiya said stirring in a teaspoon of sugar into his coffee. "So, what is up with that Sakura girl? I thought Naruto wasn't interested in girls."

Tsunade looked over her shoulder at Jiraiya. "What? Do you expect Naruto to surround himself with half dressed man-whores? Please, Jiraiya, he can have female friends, and it does not matter if she ends becoming his fag-hag, but I doubt he's told her yet. That poor ignorant girl, she might have a crush on him," the woman clicked her teeth and stood up while a skillet and a large pot in her hands. She turned around, walked back to island and placed the items onto the counter.

Grabbing the pot, Tsunade headed over to the sink and filled it water. Once the pot was filled, she head back to the stove and placed it on the back burner.

"Yeah, your right on all points," Jiraiya took another sip of his black coffee. "Though I wonder close these two are. Do you know how long they've known each other?"

Tsunade merely shrugged her shoulders as she turned on the stove. "Since the end of last year, I believe, but I don't think Naruto bothered to keep contact with her over the summer. He's changed, you know. He used to be such a sweet boy, always ready to make friends, but now… I don't know," she said, walking to refrigerator.

"It's not your fault, Tsunade, so don't go blaming yourself. He's still the same Naruto, just in a different package. He's still the same boy we all knew. Even if it seems he has changed, he's still the same. He's still your son, and there is nothing that can change that," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade looked over her shoulder at Jiraiya and snorted. "That was just about the corniest thing I have ever heard."

"I know. I _am_ the author in the family, aren't I?" Jiraiya said before taking long sip from his coffee. "But even so, everything I said was true."

"I know, but I still feel as though I haven't done much for him. I wish I had gotten that bastard. I wish I wasn't blind all those years. I'm his mother. I should have seen the signs," Tsunade said.

"We all want the same thing. You, Nawaki, Shizune, and I wanted him to pay for what he did. _That man_ robbed Naruto of the best years of his life. That boy should be happy and there is nothing I want to see more than that boy smiling again. We trusted _him_, and _he_ still did this to us," Jiraiya grimaced as his grip his mug tightened.

Tsunade looked up at her brother's hard expression and sighed. Speaking about _that man_ always bought Jiraiya's passionate side out. The two had been so close, yet Jiraiya never knew what kind of a man _he_ really was. None of them knew, not even Tsunade's late husband and Naruto's father, Dan, could read _that man_, and Dan was a forensic physiatrist. He was trained to read people's actions, map out their personalities, and mental faults.

Yet still, no one ever gave a second thought about _that man's_ closeness with Naruto.

At that moment, Tsunade heard a knock at the kitchen door and turned to see Sakura walking.

"I'm so sorry, but I need to ask you, Miss Tsunade. Can I use your phone? I have to call my mother before she puts out a missing person's report," the girl said.

"Go ahead."

"Great, and also there is a man in the living room asking about you."

A man who looked to be in his late twenties came up behind Sakura. He had sandy blond hair and brown eyes with a very ruddy complexion typical of those born under the sign of the lion. The man flashed Tsunade a huge grin, showing off two rows of pearly white teeth.

"Hey, Sis, as you can see, I'm here early," the man said from behind Sakura.

"I can see that, Nawaki," Tsunade replied flatly, balancing an arm fill of ingredients towards the island. "The phone is right next to your head, Sakura, and do take as long as you like."

The girl nodded than turned towards the phone hanging on the wall next to the kitchen door.

Jiraiya sighed. "Well, there goes our serious adult conversation," he muttered under his breath.

"Shouldn't you and Naruto be spending time together?" she asked Nawaki who was walking towards the island.

"He'll be alright, besides can't I greet the lady of the house?" Nawaki said. "Anyway, tell just how did you got that boy to start communicating with you again. He's practically acting like nothing has happened."

"Nawaki, shut up. We have company in case you forgot," Jiraiya said, nodding over in Sakura's direction.

Luckily, Sakura was facing away from them and was too caught up in her conversation to notice anything.

"You people, and your secrets," Nawaki grumbled. "Look at her; she's not paying us any mind at all."

"Now, you know that isn't the point," Tsunade said, chopping up an onion.

From across the room, Sakura let out an annoyed sigh and turned around to face Tsunade. "Thanks for letting me used your phone."

"It's no problem, but I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your mother," Tsunade said.

"Oh, her," Sakura said, exhaustedly. "There's nothing to worry about, she was just worried. Anyway, I should get back to Naruto."

"Alright, but wait a minute…" Tsunade trailed off as she looked up to see that Sakura had left the kitchen already. The woman frowned and looked back down at the chopping board. "Well then, just don't pay me any mind."

"Hey, sis, you really seem to like that girl," Nawaki piped moments before a wash towel was thrown at his face.

"Shut up."

* * *

It wasn't until eight o'clock did Naruto started to feel tired. This was very odd considering that he normally goes to sleep around one o'clock in the mourning. Perhaps, Nawaki's usual chattiness sucked all the life out of him. His uncle was quite known for being a motor mouth. The man could have a whole conversation with himself. Sakura was the only person who kept up in a conversation with Nawaki that night. 

Sometimes during the car ride, Naruto had fallen asleep. One moment he was lying his head on the window and the next he was being shaken awake by Sakura. Naruto gave out a tired groaned as he sat up and wiped the drool off his cheek.

"God, you sleep like a rock," Sakura said beside Naruto.

Naruto looked over at the girl who was lending across the backseat with half lidded eyes. He looked passed Sakura to see a very familiar granny flat behind her.

"We're here that fast?" he groaned while stretching in his seat.

"No, you jut fell asleep," Tsunade said from the driver's seat.

"Hm, I didn't even notice," Naruto yawned. "Can you pop the trunk for me?"

Tsunade did not say a word as she unlocked the trunk of the car. Once he heard a very familiar pop, Naruto climbed out of the backseat and went around to the back of the car. By time Naruto gathered all of his things from the trunk, Sakura was already seated back in the front seat. Naruto went up to Tsunade's side window where the woman already had her window rolled down.

"See ya, mom," Naruto said.

"That's the best you can do? Come one, give me a kiss," Tsunade said.

"No way."

"Come on, Naruto you haven't given your mother a kiss in a while. Just a little peck on the cheek," the woman said presenting her cheek.

Naruto groaned. "Fine," he said. Reluctantly, Naruto bent down and kissed Tsunade's cheek.

"My turn," Tsunade took hold Naruto's chin and planted a huge, wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Argh," Naruto moaned as he pried himself out of his mother's grip. From the passenger's seat, Sakura laughed while Naruto's face screwed up in disgust as he whipped his check.

"Stop being a baby, it wasn't that bad," Tsunade said, smiling.

"Not for you maybe," Naruto grunted. "See you in school on Monday, Sakura."

"You too, bye," Sakura shouted from her seat.

Naruto waved to them both before turning around to climb his stairs. As he unlocked his front door, Naruto gave out another loud yawn. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. Homework could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Naruto wakes up to find a very angry Konohamaru. Sakura and Naruto go off to the party, but Naruto feels like an outsider. And just what is up with Sasuke? Fine out next time on _Days of_… _The Ugly Duckling_. 


	5. The Drunkenness of Noah

I kind of lied in my last up-date. On the progress of writing the first chapter one my pending fics, I got stuck, and decided on writing this chapter. It ended up being way longer than I expected and totaled to 10,000 words- the longest chapter yet. There is more Sasuke, lots more Sasuke acting nice. C'mon, people, underneath that tough exterior, he's really a sweet, sensitive guy, am I right:D

Anyway, I would have gotten this monster of a chapter done earlier, but my hands are tied with spriting for a Pokemon romhack. I'm very behind with work on that, and I don't want the person who hired me on to think I'm lazy.

I do not own Naruto, and if I did own Naruto, Orochimaru would be a bishie, Kakashi wouldn't be wearing pant neither would Kisame. Also, Kabuto would be the town whore, because he's just creamy- like butter. Now you know just why I don't own Naruto.

As always, please report any errors to me.

* * *

**The Ugly Duckling **

**Chapter V: The Drunkeness of Noah**

by The Teeth Collector

* * *

The first thing Naruto hard when he walked out of his apartment door was the loud wail of a little boy. Naruto was tackled to the ground before he could even register what had happened. On the way down, Naruto managed to hit his head. He hissed in pain and looked up to see a rosy-cheeked boy wearing a scarf beating his fist on his chest. 

"You're a big, fat liar, Boss!" the boy yelled.

"Konohamaru cut it out, and just what did I lie about?" Naruto said sitting up. As expected, Knohamaru fell backwards.

"You told Moegi that you would play with us, but you didn't and that makes you a big, fat liar!" Konohamaru screeched. Naruto could not disagree with Konohamaru's argument. It was nearly flawless. "I waited for two weeks just so I could punch you for lying, but I got you now, boss!"

"Whoa, listen, Konohamaru," Naruto said. "Look, see I wasn't home at all last week, and I really couldn't do anything, alright. So, will you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Konohamaru merely huffed and crossed his arms around his chest as he continued to glare at Naruto. "No, I am not that easily fooled, boss! I maybe little, but I'm not retarded!"

"Yes, I know you're not retarded, Konohamaru. Look, I don't have to work tomorrow, so I'll be able to make it up to my promise, alright?" Naruto pleaded.

"Alright," Konohamaru said standing up. "I forgive your pass transgression, and we will all forget about this whole incident." The boy puffed out his chest and nodded to his own statement.

Naruto couldn't keep himself from rolling his eyes. Konohamaru must have found a new fad in mafia movies. Only Konohamaru knows where he got those movies.

"We should really get out of the hallway, Konohamaru," Naruto said with a sigh. He pushed himself off the floor and walked past Konohamaru.

"You better not be lying again, boss," Konohamaru said following Naruto down the short hallway and down the stairs.

"Trust me, I'm not. I happen to like keeping my word," Naruto grumbled.

"Good, that means you are a real man with pride, and honor. Liars and deserters are the worst and must make a-a-atone-atonements-" the boy struggled before continuing. "- for their past transgressions."

"Knohamaru," Naruto said. "Have you been watching your granddad's gangster movies?"

Konohamaru shrugged his shoulders dismissively and stopped in front of the door to the apartment he shared with his grandfather, the landlord. "Maybe," the boy said, warily. "What's it too you?"

Naruto ignored Konohamaru's question. "Does your granddad know you're watching his movies?"

Konohamaru's expression soured. "Who says I've been watching grandpa's movies?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You are a horrible liar, and your granddad won't be mad at you, so just fess up, squirt!"

"Fine!" Konohamaru wailed, throwing up his hands in defeat. Naruto never thought it was possible, but Konohamaru's face pinched up even more as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Humph, fine I watched them. Whatever."

"Good," Naruto said, feeling quite proud of his brotherly way of handling this situation. He felt a sense of triumph boiling up inside of him, and it felt good. "Now stop trying to act like a gangster before your little friends start mimicking you. I swear, they think the sun shines out-" He caught himself before letting all his ill-fated words slip out.

"They do not!" Konohamaru protested, his expression still as sour as it was moments ago.

"What about Moegi?"

"Moegi's different!" Konohamaru said, defensively. "She's a girl!"

Naruto brushed off Konohamaru's weak argument, and uncharacteristically smiled smugly. "Yeah, right, and Udon is a perfectly normal eight-year-old boy."

God, he loved kids.

Konohamaru sneered, and turned his back towards Naruto. "You suck, boss!" the boy screeched before opening up his apartment door. Naruto peered in to see a very old man still wearing his house slippers and pajamas sitting in an armchair reading the newspaper. The old man looked up from his newspaper at both Naruto and Konohamaru.

"You shouldn't be so loud this early in the mourning, Konohmaru. These old walls are thin, and Mrs Danna-May maybe still asleep up stairs," the old man said from his chair before sighing and placing his newspaper on the table next to him. He let out a small groan as he stood up his chair. He made his way over to the door and ruffled his grandson's hair. "And you really shouldn't bother Naruto either. He has to catch the bus to get to work."

Then it hit Naruto, he had to catch the nine-thirty bus. Panic washed over as him as he tried to guess what time it was. "Shit!" He interjected, causing Konohamaru's grandfather to raise in eyebrow. "Can you tell me what time it is, Gramps!"

"Sure, it's twenty-two minutes ever nine," the man calmly stated.

"Thanks!" Naruto yelled before heading towards the door. Without saying much more, Naruto left.

He must have run about three blocks until reaching the bus stop. Gasping for air, Naruto slumped onto the bus stop bench. Damn, he gets distracted very easily. He suspected that the bus should be arriving in a few minutes or so, but until then he will just have to finish catching his breath. Naruto sighed and looked down at his ratty, old pair of Chuck Taylor's. The boy groaned as he inspected the hole forming on the side of his sneaker. It looks like he just has to break down and get a new pair, but his budget does allow for that to happen.

"Why do I need food to live?" Naruto said aloud.

At that moment, Naruto looked up and saw the bus stopping at the red light a block down. Before the light even turned green, Naruto stood up and started to pull out his bus fare. Once the bus arrived at the stop, Naruto got on and paid his fare before taking a seat in the back. It a Saturday morning, so the bus was almost completely empty.

While looking out the window, Naruto wondered what block Sasuke lived on. They lived in the same neighborhood, but ever never ran into each before that incident at the laundromat. At the same time, Naruto was wondering why was he even thinking about Sasuke. Naruto groaned and slumped in his seat. He really should not give this any thought. Sasuke should be the last thing on his mind right now. It was a Saturday morning. He should be worried about working off all his sick days, not worrying about some stalker.

That's right, Sasuke had been promoted from minor annoyance to stalker.

Naruto noticed that since Monday, Sakon was acting oddly. The other boy seemed not to even acknowledge that Naruto presence much less glance in his direction. Sakon mostly kept to himself and stayed with his friends. Then there was Sasuke who sent treating looks towards Sakon as if he were keeping the boy in line. Naruto was sure he was the only one who felt the tenseness in the air everyday when all three of them were together. Under normal circumstances, this would not brother Naruto. In fact, Naruto would sing "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead" while dancing on his school desk, but Naruto was more aware of his surroundings now. If this was two years ago, Naruto wouldn't even noticed a thing.

As the bus passed down Harold Street, Naruto swore he saw Sasuke's boxy blue car parked outside of a newly built condominium. Great, now he was hallucinating about Sasuke. It was bad enough he was going to a party that Sasuke would defiantly be at. Some popular girl named Kim was holding it, so no doubt many people including Sasuke would come. For some reason, Sasuke was popular with the girls in their grade, though Naruto had no clue why. The burnet didn't even have a personally. He was as shallow as a puddle, but if you look good, than you'll still bring girls to the yard, apparently. This only proves that most girls Naruto's age had horrible taste in men.

Naruto reached up and pulled the string for stop requested when he saw the Willow Avenue strip mall coming up. The bus pulled up to stop and Naruto got off along with a few other early bird shoppers. When Naruto got off, he stopped Temari climbing out of driver side a red car in the parking lot just a few yards away from him.

"Hey, Temari!" he called out to the girl.

Temari turned around and smiled at Naruto. "Hi, Naruto, I didn't think you'd be this early," she said as Naruto strolled towards her.

"Yeah, well the bus schedule changed-" Naruto's words were lost when a very crossed-looking boy about his age climbed out of the car. The boy was at least two inches shorter than Naruto and had bright, flaming red hair and the most shockingly green eyes with deep, dark circles ringed around them. He thin in a very unhealthy way, and Naruto could see the boy's collarbone jetting out of the very wide v-neck collar of his shirt. He looked like death warmed over.

"Oh, Naruto, this is my brother, Garaa," Temari said noticing the puzzled look on Naruto's face.

"Ewww, that's gross. If you have phlegm in your throat, you really should spit that out in a napkin, or something," Naruto said as snapped out his shock.

"No, that's my brother's name."

"Phlegm?"

"No, Garaa," Temari said, looking just as crossed as her brother.

"Oh," Naruto said, feeling very stupid.

Garaa, on the other hand, did not seem offended by Naruto mistaking his name for the sound of a wet cough. He merely snorted and shut the car door. Naruto shuddered when those soulless green eyes caught looked in his direction. Even though Naruto was looking Temari in the eyes, he could still tell when Garaa was looking at him. Instinctively, Naruto looked at Garaa and froze as the other boy's eyes burrowed into his own.

"Temari, I don't have any more time to waste," Garaa said in a flat, even tone. His eyes did break away from Naruto's.

"Fine," Temari let out a deep sigh and locked her car. "Come on, I know the ATM's open."

"I'll- I'll walk with you," Naruto blurted out.

"Really?" Temari said with her pencil thin eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"Well, we are going in the same direction, right? I mean, the bank is in the same direction as the nursery," Naruto explained.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Temari laughed nervously. She turned away from Naruto began to walk off.

Naruto, not wanting to be in Garaa's company, ran up beside Temari where he knew he was safest, but it did not help that Naruto could still feel Garaa's gaze drilling into the back of his skull. Naruto and Temari engaged in idle chitchat as they walked the short distance to the bank. All during this time, Garaa did not say a single word to any of them. The boy stayed behind them staring at the ground his arms crossed tightly against his chest as if he were freezing. It wasn't a very chilly morning, and Garaa was wearing a very comfortable looking hoodie, so he could not have been cold.

Temari sighed and punched in her pen number as Garaa leaned against the wall next to her and the ATM machine. Naruto looked away as the young woman began to put in the amount of money she wanted to withdraw. She wordlessly handed Garaa the money. The redheaded boy shoved the money into his tight pockets and pushed himself off the wall. The boy did not give his sister a proper thank you or goodbye before walking back in the direction of which they came. Naruto felt Garaa's hand brushed up against his as the redhead walked passed him. Despite the little voice in his head nagging at him, Naruto simply brushed this off as unintentional.

"Damn it!" Temari screamed, causing Naruto to jump. "I can't believe it! Not even a single word of thanks! I swear that boy as the personality of a sponge!"

"Yeah, he seems lovely," Naruto said before he could even catch himself.

Temari let out a small sigh. "Garaa isn't so bad once you get to know him much better… Okay, I lied. You'll never be able to understand him no matter how much time you spend with him. I don't even understand him, you know."

"Um," Naruto merely said. He felt a little awkward listening to Temari's complaint about Garaa. He really did not know Garaa that well to give any valuable impute about this situation.

"Come on," Temari said, tugging on Naruto's sleeve. "We better get going before Kakashi starts teasing us for being late- the hypocrite."

"So, what are you doing to night?" Temari asked as started to walk. Even though Temari knew damn well Naruto lived a very interesting life, she always asked that question every Friday and Saturday, and Naruto always replied with customary "nothing, really."

"I'm hanging out with a friend," Naruto replied.

Temari's brown eyes widen in interest. "Oh, a friend you say. Is this friend special?" She said in a suggestive tone.

"No, she's just a close friend of mine, is all."

"Oh, I see," Temari said, sounding a bit disappointed. "So, where are you two doing tonight?"

"Some house party," Naruto replied as they entered the nursery parking lot.

"That sounds fun. I didn't know you were the party type. You always seemed like the type to play EverQuest all day," Temari said with a small laugh.

"Stop making fun of me. I don't even have a computer!" Naruto said.

"That's what you say," Temari said with a laugh as they both walked up the storefront.

* * *

Naruto shifted uncomfortable in his seat. The tension in the air was enough to suffocate him. 

"Why exactly is he coming with us?" Ino demanded in a shrilled voice. This was the first time Naruto heard Ino talking, and he wished she would just shut up. Doesn't that girl realize her voice could break glass if she raises it one more note?

"C'mon, Ino," Kiba moaned from the driver's seat. "He ain't hurting anyone, plus it's Naruto! Who doesn't love Naruto?"

Naruto sighed and slumped down in his seat. During the short walk from the bus stop back to his, Naruto ran into Sakura riding along with Ino in Kiba's car and now here they were arguing rather or not Naruto should come to the party with them. Actually, it was only Ino who protesting to something this stupid.

"What is there to love about him?" Ino scoffed.

That hurt.

"Whatever, it's not your call to say rather or not Naruto could come to Kim's party," Kiba said with a slight bite in his tone.

Ino let out a gasp as her cheeks started to turn bright red. "You-you," she stammered in rage.

"Look, Ino," Kiba cut the girl off. "I – we – really don't need this right now. So, please, just shut up."

By this point, the red tint in Ino's face reached up to her hairline. The girl puffed out her cheeks and sulked in silence as the now pissed off Kiba continued to drive. Naruto looked up at the rear-view mirror to a deep line going across Kiba's brow. Naruto was taken back a little. This was the first time he ever saw Kiba mad. Naruto heard Sakura sigh from beside him, and turn his head to meet Sakura's brilliant eyes.

"Sorry about that," Sakura whispered while placing a hand on Naruto's arm.

"It's fine," he whispered back. "I didn't know she hated me that much."

"She doesn't hate you. She's just…" Sakura trailed off as if searching for the right word. "Upset. Yes, that's right. Ino was upset."

"Stop making excuses for her!" Kiba yelled from the driver's seat. "She doesn't deserve them."

Ino gritted her teeth and glared at the side of Kiba's head. "If you have a problem with me, than say it! I'm not up for your bullshit tonight, Kiba!" the blonde girl cried.

"Me neither!" Kiba bellowed, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"They've been like this all night," Sakura comment. "I don't know what happened, and frankly, I don't want to know."

Naruto groaned and leaned back into his seat. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in the middle of a lovers' quarrel.

"I met a very weird guy today at work," Naruto said, trying to break the ice. Suddenly, all eyes were on him and Naruto sift once gain in his seat. "Yeah, he's one of my co-workers' brother. He looked like a pissed off panda that just rolled out of bed. I mean, he had dark rings around his eyes, he was skinny as hell, and he was really fucking scary. He kept staring at me."

"You met a crackhead?" Sakura asked with an eyebrow raised.

Naruto shrugged. "Probably, he sure did look like one. Also, he had a bad attitude, too."

Sakura nodded and said nothing more. Kiba and Ino did not talk for the rest of trip. They hardly even talked to each other, or both Naruto and Sakura who kept each other occupied with idle chat. They rolled up too a fairly well sized house a little bit outside of town. There were cars already parked outside the place when they got there.

"Looks like we got here in time, though I doubt we'll be staying long- most parties here get shut down within an hour," Kiba said to everyone, as the car came to a halt.

Naruto took hold of the car door handle and pushed it open. He was ready to get out of there. He just couldn't handle the atmosphere in there any longer. Immediately after climbing out of the car, Naruto was pulled aside by Kiba who threw a strong arm around his neck.

"Y'know, I don't even think Kimmy knows who you are," the brunet boy said dragging Naruto towards the back of the house. Kiba must have wanted to get far away from Ino as possible. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't be coming in through the backdoor.

"I don't even know who "Kimmy" is," Naruto replied.

Kiba let out a howl of laugher at this. "Yeah, you'd be happy that you didn't. She's a real bitch, and I would say she looks like a dog, but that would be insult to dogs. They look _way_ better than she does."

When they came around to the backyard, the first thing Naruto's eyes locked on were the figures of two people standing near the huge slide set. Through the dimmed light coming from the porch light, Naruto could see that they were kissing and grinding against each other. The boy was around his height and had black hair and the girl had shoulder length dirty blonde hair. Naruto could finally get a clear view of their face when they pulled back for air and standing there was Sasuke.

Apparently, neither Sasuke nor the unknown girl noticed them when they walked into the backyard. Sasuke smiled down at the girl before continuing their make out session.

Kiba removed his arm from around Naruto's neck, and moved away from the blond boy.

"Hey, Sasuke, if you keep kissing her like that, you're gonna shallow her whole!" Kiba called out.

The girl jumped, but Sasuke did not. The both of turned around to look at the newcomers. The girl turned bright red at the realization that she had been caught in a very compromising position. She jumped away from Sasuke, but did not run way from the scene. Instead, she latched on to Sasuke's arm and looked up at the dark-haired youth with giant doe eyes.

"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled, looking at Naruto instead of Kiba.

Naruto was looking down at the ground as if embarrassed. God, he wanted Naruto to look up at him with those blue eyes of his, but Sasuke knew it wouldn't happen. The boy was too embarrassed now to look at anyone. Sasuke was overwhelmed by the urge to tell Naruto that the leech on his arm meant nothing to him, but did not dare to act out those thoughts.

"See you inside after you're done, Sasuke," Kiba said, suggestively. He winked at Sasuke before turning towards Naruto. "Look, you embarrassed Naruto. He probably got a reaction, the poor vir-"

"Shut the hell up, Kiba!" Naruto yelled. "I swear to god I'm going to kill you if you finished that sentence!"

"Awww, c'mon, Naruto, I was only joking around."

"Well, it wasn't funny!"

"You're just mad, because you haven't got laid yet."

Naruto gritted his teeth. Damn it, Kiba was starting get on his fucking nerves! He was not embarrassed at all! Who cares if Sasuke was kissing some girl? It certainly wasn't his problem. Naruto didn't even care what they were going to do later either. They could make their own scat film for all he cared! Naruto looked up and his eyes met with sasuke's for a moment before the dark-haired boy looked away. Beside him, the blonde girl was giggling a little.

Naruto felt his cheeks burn.

"I'm going inside," he announced before walking off towards the backdoor.

"Oh, hey, me too," Kiba called out from behind Naruto. "You two better be practicing safe sex. Remember: safe sex is the best sex!"

Naruto scoffed at Kiba's horrible sense of humor and slid open the backdoor for the both of them. The moment they walked into the crowded kitchen, two girls surrounded Kiba. One of them had a long bleach blonde hair and the worst tan Naruto has ever seen, and the other one's face was smeared with cheap makeup.

"Hey, Kiba, I saw Ino walk in, but I didn't see you at all! She told me that you would come in through the back, and she looked mad. Did anything happen between you two, hm?" the makeup-smeared girl said while leaning against the kitchen counter.

Kiba gave the girl a smile. "That's none of your business, Kimmy," he said in a playful matter. If Naruto didn't know better, he could have sworn Kiba was flirty with "Kimmy".

Kim flipped her long chestnut-colored hair over her shoulder and giggled. "Oooh, you really shouldn't be using that tone when your girlfriends right in the other room, Kiba."

"Excuse me," someone said from behind Naruto. He moved aside as another boy passed right past him.

Naruto looked over at the girl standing next to Kim. She smiled coyly at Naruto, and gave him a small wave. In an attempt to be polite, Naruto gave the girl a forced smile, but it ended up came out as a grimace. However, the girl did not seem bothered by this at all. She turned her coyness up to eight as she covered her face with her hands, but not even Naruto would fall for her confused virgin routine.

"What the hell is wrong with you Carrie?" Kiba asked from beside Naruto.

The blonde girl called Carrie dropped her act, and straightened up. She let puffed out her chest and placed her hands on her hips as she glared at Kiba. "Fuck off, Kiba," she growled; she then turned back towards Naruto, and fluttered her fake eyelashes at the boy.

"Who's your friend?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Kiba turned towards Naruto with a suggestive smirk on his face. "Yeah, you ought to introduce yourself to the host and her friend, Naruto."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kiba. The bastard was enjoying this.

"Oh my gawd, your name is Naruto!? That's such a weird but cute name! I like it!" Carrie squealed.

"Haha, yeah, thanks," Naruto replied awkwardly.

"Hey, I think I've seen you before," Kim said, walking in front of Naruto until her tiny, pointed upturned nose was touching his. "Yeah, I sometimes see you in the hall sometimes. You always seemed like a loner."

"Nah, Naruto's cool," Kiba said. "He's just a little quite, is all."

"I like the quiet type," Carrie said a high-pitched giggle.

Naruto shuddered inwardly.

The boy felt a tugged on his sleeve, and looked up to see Carrie's glossy pink lips still curved up in a fox-like smirk. "Naruto, do you want to some to drink?" she asked.

"Uh, sure whatever," Naruto replied.

"Come on, I'll find us somewhere to sit, and then I'll get us something to drink, alright?"

"Sure," Naruto said reluctantly. He really did not feel like going with this girl, but he was just too damn nice to tell her off. Damn, he really needed to grow a backbone. Naruto looked over his shoulder to see that Sasuke and the girl from earlier were gone. Kiba and Naruto were standing right in front of the backdoor the whole time, so he knew that they didn't come in. Maybe they had come back in through the front door.

Naruto felt another tug at his sleeve, and turned around to see an annoyed Carries staring back at him. "Are you coming or not?" she demanded.

"Yeah," Naruto replied absentmindedly. The girl smiled, and started to drag Naruto off towards the living room.

The living room was just as crowded as the kitchen. All around there were teenagers dancing to some generic rap song playing the stereo.

"Oh my gawd!" Carrie exclaimed as they weaved through the crowd. "I love this song!"

"Of course you do," Naruto mumbled.

Carrie stopped walking and looked back at Naruto. "What was that!?" the shouted over the music.

"Nothing!" the boy shouted back.

"Yo, Carrie!" someone called out from the crowd.

Naruto looked to his left to a boy about in his grade that he admittedly recognized as one of Sakon's friends. The boy stood more than a few inches taller than Naruto. He had a very dark complexion, and wore his curly black hair in a short ponytail. Carrie let go of Naruto's sleeve once the boy made over towards them. She crossed her arms over her chest, and gave the boy a look of complete disgust. The boy, however, ignored the dirty look Carrie was sending him and threw an arm around her slender shoulders.

"Hey, Care Bear, I've been lookin' for you all night long," the boy said with a slight slur.

"Get the hell away from me, Kidoumaru. I told you before that I don't like you. How many times must I tell you that before it gets drilled into your thick skull," Carrie snapped.

Kidoumaru only laughed. "Yeah, right, Car. I know you want me. If you don't want the attention I'm givin' you, than don't wear such revealin' tops…" Kidoumaru emphasized his point by hooking his finger underneath deep collar of Carries low cut blouse- exposing her cleavage even more.

"Get off me you perv!" Carrie yelped as she shoved Kidoumaru off her.

Kidoumaru was laughing.

That was it. As much as Naruto did not like Carrie, he could not stand it when guys treat women like objects.

"What is your fucking problem?" Naruto said to Kidoumaru.

The other boy stopped laughing and turned towards Naruto. He raised a questioning eyebrow, and stepped in front of Naruto. Naruto gulped as he released that Kidoumaru was much taller than he was. The other boy was at least six feet tall, and looked to have much more muscle mass than Naruto will ever have. Kidoumaru smirked down at Naruto.

"I know ya; yer that Naruto kid, right? Sakon told me about some blond fag he likes to fuck wit'," he sneered. "He told me that you not a good fighter. You really shouldn't be pickin' fights that you can't finish."

"And _you _shouldn't go around grouping people. I heard that girls don't like it when you molest them," Naruto said, a little surprised at his own bravery.

Kidoumaru snarled, and then did the most peculiar thing. Instead of attempting to hit Naruto, he merely turned to the look at the small crowd gathering around them.

"Pffft, whatever," the taller boy growled. "It's really not worth it-" Kidoumaru turned around and looked at Naruto from over his shoulder. Naruto instantly froze up under Kidoumaru's intimidating gaze. "- but you better watch yer back, Naruto."

Naruto stood there rigid as Kidoumaru ploughed his way through the sea of teenagers. Most of the people, around Carrie and Naruto groaned and moaned in disappointment as they went back to minding their own business. The boy jumped when a hand clapped down on his right shoulder. Naruto slowly turned to his right to see Carrie standing there with her brow furrowed and biting down on her glossy bottom lip. Watching her, Naruto wondered if Carrie's front teeth were sticky from all that lip-gloss she wore.

"Thanks for defending me back there, Naruto," the girl said dreamily. "No one has ever done that for me before. Most boys think that I'm all boobs and legs, and nothing more."

"Uh…, you're welcomed?" Naruto replied at a lost of what to say to Carrie.

"Now what was I supposed to be doing again? Oh yeah, I have to find you a seat!" Carrie said, taking hold of Naruto's sleeve once again.

As they pushed there way towards the couch, Naruto saw Sakura sitting with a boy on the love seat. The boy had a neatly shaped bowl cut, and eyebrows the looked like two overfed caterpillars crawling across his face. Not to mention his sweater was a hideous shade of dark green. Naruto instantly recognized him as boy he once knew in the ninth grade. The blond boy's brow furrowed. That did not make any since. The other boy should be at least the same age as Naruto and in college.

The boy must have said something funny, because Sakura was giggling into her hand. She looked over at Naruto and Carrie and shot up from her seat.

"Oh, Naruto, where did you and Kiba run off to?" Sakura asked, placing her hands on her hips. "God, first ino ditched me-"

"Wait," Naruto cut Sakura off, and the girl glared at Naruto for his rudeness. "Ino ditched you?"

"Yeah," Sakura sighed. "Can you believe the nerve of her?"- ("I sure can," Carrie muttered from beside Naruto.) -"She told me that she was going to the bathroom fifteen minutes ago, and has come down since!"

"Yeah, she's horrid," Naruto said, halfheartedly. "Anyway, what are you doing here with Sakura, Lee?"

"Lee", who has been quite since Naruto and Carrie came around, looked up at Naruto with biddy eyes rimmed with thick eyelashes. "I am a taking my time off to be a designated driver, Naruto," Lee said in a stuff, formal manner. "Many teenagers these days are drinking, and driving, and getting into accents. It is my duty to ensure the safety of those who cannot drive."

"…"

Both Naruto and Sakura were silent, but Naruto was used to this. Lee was quite well known for his odd, irrational beaver.

"Are you retarded?" Carrie scoffed.

Lee looked up at Carrie, and blinked in confusion. "No, I can assure you that I am not mentally handicapped."

Sakura sighed, and turned back towards Naruto. "How do you two know each other, Naruto?"

"Lee was in my tenth grade class," Naruto replied.

"Yes, Naruto was a very good classmate of mine, Miss Sakura. He was always the center of attention. Naruto used to get in trouble a lot in class- mostly for disrupting class," Lee said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, Naruto used be a class clown?

Carrie tapped on Naruto's shoulder. "I'm going to go get you a drink, alright," she said in a irritated tone. Before Naruto could say anything, Carrie stomped off.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?" Sakura said once Carrie was out of sight.

"Go ahead."

"Just how do you know, Carrie?"

"Oh, well…, she kind of fell for me…," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"Oh," Sakura said, dejectedly.

The tone in Sakura's voice sounded foreign to Naruto's hears. It was mixer of disappointment, defeat, and something else Naruto could not quiet place is finger on. Then it hit Naruto; Sakura had a crush on him. Naruto turned towards Rock Lee. The other boy must have noticed the tone in Sakura's voice, because he was staring down at the floor with a frown on his face. The blond boy's brow furrowed. Lee must have fallen for Sakura at first sight. If you can ignore certain qualities of Sakura's personality, the girl was actually quiet charming. Sakura was just Lee's type, too. Naruto thought. He always did have strange tastes.

"Can I sit down?" Naruto asked, in an attempt to break the awkwardness in the air.

"Oh," Sakura gasped, looking around. "There aren't any free seats around here, but you can take my seat, Naruto. I can sit on the armrest, I really don't mind."

"Oh-no, Miss Sakura, you do not have to give up your seat," Rock lee said, standing up. "Naruto can have mine in stead. I don't mind actually. I can go and find a folding chair to sit on."

"You don't have to do that, Lee," Sakura said.

"No, I insist."

"Thanks, Lee," Naruto said. If Lee was going to give up his seat, he might as well take it.

Sakura glared at Naruto, but sat back down in her seat anyway. "Fine, if you insist, Lee," she said in defeat. "Be sure to come back quickly, okay?"

"Don't worry," Lee said before walking off to find a chair.

Once Rock Lee was gone, Naruto plopped down in the seat he once occupied.

"So, how did you meet Rock Lee?" Naruto asked the girl.

"Oh, when Ino left me, he came over towards and started making weird faces like Mister Bean. It was funny, so I asked him why did you just do that, and he said it was because I looked sad. Then we started talking," Sakura explained.

"Lee made faces like Mister Bean?" he asked, skeptical of Sakura's claims. The Lee he knew took himself very seriously, and won't make faces at some random girl that he meets.

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but he did. He just came up to me and started to wriggle his eyebrows. I only laughed, because it was _so_ random and embarrassing," the girl said. "Anyway, that's not important."

"Um…," he said hesitantly. He knew it wasn't a very good time to ask Sakura if she had crush on him, but he knew they must get this out of way as soon as possible. "Sakura, do you like me?"

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Of course I like you, Naruto. I wouldn't be friends with you if I didn't," the girl said, matter-of-factly.

"No, that's not what I meant-"

"Hey, Naruto, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!" a shrilled voice called out from behind Naruto. Both Naruto and Sakura turned their heads to see Carrie coming towards them with her brightly colored fingers wrapped around two plastic cups. The girl sat down the armrest next to Naruto handed him one of the cups. Naruto looked down at the contents and screwed his face up in disgust.

"What's wrong?" the blonde girl asked, noticing the boy's obvious disgust.

"I hate beer," Naruto replied automatically.

"Oh," she said, tapping her perfectly pointed fingernail on her chin. "Well, you can have my drink. It's isn't beer, so you should like it."

Carrie handed Naruto her drink, and without hesitation, Naruto handed her his cup of beer. Naruto peered into the cup to see what appeared to be orange juice, but it smelled strongly of alcohol. Naruto's brow furrowed. Making a cocktail out of orange juice seemed like something an overworked housewife would do. Hesitantly, he bought the cup to his lips, and choked as the burning hot liquor went down his throat. It was not as if the drink was disgusting, the liquor was a little bit too strong, but it was better than drinking beer.

Ignoring the nasty look Sakura was giving him; Naruto took another sip of orange juice cocktail. Hopefully, getting tipsy would help him endure the crappy music playing on the stereo.

* * *

Naruto got more than a little tipsy. The drink, as it seems, was much more than a little bit too strong, and after the third cup of what he had dubbed "Jesus Juice" the world around him became distorted and fuzzy. He now found himself half sprawled onto the couch with Carrie laying on him with her head resting on his chest. Naruto had long stopped caring about personal space. Sakura and Lee had left some time ago, though Naruto knew they were still at the party, because it was obvious he couldn't find a ride of his own at this point 

"Y'know, Carrie," Naruto said drawing out the girl's name in a lazy slur. "You have a very orange tan," the boy giggled, holding his cup of Jesus Juice over his tilted head. "You look like an Oompa-Loopma. I love those fucking little guys!"

Carrie looked up at Naruto with glassy, un-focused eyes. "Really? I didn't know that," she said, confused about Naruto's observation.

"Yeah, but like I said, I love those little guys," he replied before taking another swig of his cocktail. "I should stop drinkin' these, I think." Naruto laughed at himself. "You like your stuff hard, and orange. Housewives drink stuff like this, Carrie Bearrie."

Carrie laughed a little at Naruto state of intoxication. "Yeah, you really should stop drinking for tonight," she said, scooting higher against Naruto's body. She placed her head on the boy's shoulder and took the cup out of his hand. Naruto blinked as the cup was past over his head and placed onto the table behind them.

"Y'know, Naruto, I think you're kind of cute," the girl said, turning onto her stomach. Naruto's mouth dropped as her breast pressed against his chest. He could look directly down at her exaggerated cleavage.

Before he could comprehend what was going on, Carrie puckered her shiny lips as wrapped her arm around his neck. Carrie brooked the small gap between them and smashed her lips against Naruto's. The girl took advantage of Naruto's open mouth, and shoved her tongue down the boy's throat. The revolting taste of cheap beer, and cheap cigarettes invaded his senses as the girl mouth raped him. Naruto tried to slip from under Carrie as the girl wriggled her tongue against his. After the assault, the girl pulled back and looked at Naruto with foggy eyes. Naruto gawked at Carrie as he wiped the rest of her sticky lip-gloss off his lips. Her lip-gloss tasted like what supposed to be cherry, but the result tasted nothing like the fruit at all.

"Did you like that, Naruto?" the girl asked, rubbing circle on Naruto's stomach.

"Uh…," Naruto said, breathlessly. He could not concentrate with the sensation of soft cotton rubbing against the sensitive skin on his stomach. The contact made the airs on the back of his neck stand on end, and a familiar warmth build in his gut.

Carrie giggled once more as she leaned up to nibble on Naruto's pulp bottom lip. Her hand slid under the boy's shirt began to rub circles around Naruto concave belly button with her index finger. The girl grit her teeth as Naruto refused to let her kiss him again, but she wanted to do more than just kiss.

Naruto felt a jolt of pleasure as Carrie squeezed in between his legs. A gasp of seer horror escaped Naruto's throat, which Carrie misinterpreted as being one of pleasure. She cupped all of Naruto's junk in her hand squeezed it harder than before. The blood was rushing to his cheeks and groins and Naruto felt even lighter headed than ever before. His pants felt so tight and constricting is was almost painful. Naruto screwed his eyes shut as he gave into the girl mentions. He did not like this at all, but at the same time, he did not feel like shoving the girl off him.

"Hmmm," the girl moaned, pulling away. "Do you like that, Naruto?"

Naruto licked his lips, and nodded his head reluctantly.

Carrie pulled her hand away from the bulge in Naruto's pants.

"There's more where that came from, Naruto," she said, airily.

* * *

There is nothing more that Sasuke hated than cheap beer. Frankly, the taste revolted him, and there was nothing he would not do for a cold Sam Adams'. Not on was the beer cheap, but he had witness Naruto drunk out of his mind with Carrie hanging all over him. The sight was disgusting to say the least, and it will take years for the image to get out of his mind. 

Suddenly, Sasuke felt his phone vibrating against his thigh. Annoyed, Sasuke shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell. The boy looked at the screen to see a very familiar number. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke flipped it open and bough the phone up to his ear.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"Heeey, Sas'ke," the feminine voice slurred from the other line. "Can you give me a ride home? I can't do it myself.-'m too drunk."

"Tche, whatever."

Sasuke heard someone stomping up the stairs. Whoever was coming up the stairs was noisy bastard, and Sasuke had to stick his finger in his ear just to listen to his conversation. Sasuke heard giggling, and within seconds, Carrie appeared at the top of the stairs with Naruto hanging off her. Just by looking at him, Sasuke could tell that the other boy was smashed. The two pay no mind to the fuming Sasuke as the turned the corner and went into the master bedroom.

Sasuke's gripped on his phone tightened. He did not need a second guess to figure out what the other teens had in mind.

"Oh, you're such a great guy, hmmm. I'll be waiting for you at the Lizard Lounge, 'right? You- you butter not be drunk too, 'cause than you won't be able to drive, like, at all-"

"Karin, just shut up," Sasuke snapped, even more irritated than before. The boy leaned up against the hallway wall, and gave a random string of hair a curt flick out of his face.

"You are very irritationable, Sasuke," Karin said, faking a motherly tone. "There is no need for yelling."

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, and groaned. He hated talking to Karin when she was this drunk. The woman hardly made any sense, and, frankly, it was just annoying. Not only that, but she liked to have long conversations, and frankly, he haven't the time for inane idle chat.

"Karin, I swear to god, if you don't get off the phone, I will leave you there."

"Hump, fine!" and with that, Karin hung up without giving Sasuke a proper goodbye.

Sasuke sighed in relief, and violently shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. He stormed up to the front of the hallway, and banged on the master bedroom door.

"Wait a minute!" Carrie yelled from the other side. "Just wait your turn! We won't be long!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, and banged on the door again. He was too close the busting down the door. That little tart was not about to take advantaged of Naruto in his drunken state. If she really wanted Naruto to fuck her that badly, she at least fucked him while sober.

"I said wait a fucking minute!" Carrie yelled again. Whoever was out there was one rude bastard. She shouldn't have to tell them to go away a second time.

"Hm," Naruto groaned from underneath her "Carrie what's goin' on?"

"Nothing, just some really eager guy at the door," she reassured the boy.

Carrie bent back down and attached her lips onto Naruto's collarbone. While her mouth was pre occupied, Carrie began to slide Naruto's pants and under down his thighs. She pulled back and grinned deviously at the drunken boy before yanking them off and throwing them on top of the small pile of clothes forming at the foot of the bed. Naruto was now completely naked expect for his socks, and she was barely wearing anything as well. Wearing only her skirt and nothing more, Carrie straddled Naruto's thigh and took hold of the boy's erection. Naruto inhaled sharply as her hand began to stroke him into full length.

The girl was too caught up into the moment to notice that the bedroom door had opened.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" a voice called out from behind her.

Carrie jumped and looked over her shoulder to see Sasuke standing in the doorway. The boy rushed up to the girl, and yanked her right off Naruto. Carrie let out of yelp as she fell onto the floor.

"What the fuck is your problem, Sasuke!?" she spat while standing back. She made no moved to straight out her skirt, which was now pushed up above her hips. "Do you really want the room that badly? We'll finish up in no time time, so just wait your fucking turn."

Naruto was not feeling up to the weather at all. His head was pounding, there was pressure on his eyes, and everything was fuzzier than ever before. He could not recall just how he got on the bed he was lying on. Where was Carrie? She was on top of him not to long ago, and she was tossing him, too. Where they finished? That couldn't be possible, he did not come yet, or at least he think he hasn't.

All around him sounded like people were talking under water, or something. Their voices pounded in his ears, yet they were muffled. It sounded like Carrie was yelling at someone, and they were yelling back at her. The voice sounded familiar. It sounded like Sasuke. Why was Sasuke there? Did he come to make fun of him again? Why was Sasuke yelling at Carrie? Is it because she about to have sex with him? Oh, Sasuke was going to get her to stop, because he really did not want to have sex with Carrie anymore. That'll be nice.

Groaning, Naruto turned on to his stomach, and felt nauseated as the contents in his stomach swished all about. Naruto scooted closer towards the edge of the bed, and his body lurched forward, but he did not vomit. He felt even dizzier just by hanging his head over the side of the bed. All he wanted to do was sleep. God, he was so tired. Slowly, Naruto looked up to see a half-naked Carrie and Sasuke looming over him. "Carrie? Sas'ke?" Naruto mumbled, but the two ignored him.

"This has nothing to do with the fucking room," Sasuke barked back

"Oh," Carrie moaned. Her entire stance changed from tense to unbelievably smug. She slowly walked up to Sasuke until they were chest-to-chest. "Don't worry, Sasuke. After I'm done with Naruto, I'll more than happy to go around with you. You can just sit and watch while I finish up here."

"Don't make me laugh. As if I want your stinky cunt anywhere near me after taking advantage of Naruto. Unlike most guys you know, I actually have taste," he sneered, pushing the girl away from him in disgust.

Carrie started to giggle. "I see, your mad, because I am about to take your friend on the ride of his life. I guess I would be mad too, if someone was going to fuck my boy toy. I guess those rumors about you are true," she sneered right back at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Who told you that?"

Carrie smiled smugly as she placed her hands on her hips. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Listen here, you cheap little skank," Sasuke hissed as he leaned into the girls face, and took hold of the girl's chin. "If you ever tell anyone about this or what you heard about me. I swear to god I will finally break my rule on not hitting girls, though I hardly consider you to be female."

Carrie's eyes widen as the sharpest gasp Naruto had ever escaped her throat.

"Now get the fuck out, and get Sakura and Kiba. NOW!" Sasuke barked, letting go of Carrie's chin.

Carrie obeyed Sasuke, and shakily gathered up her clothes before walking past Sasuke.

Sasuke's fingernails were biting deeply into the soft flesh of his hands. He got himself so worked up, and now Carrie was going to start sparing more rumors about him and Naruto. However, that did not worry him too much. Most people who knew him won't even bother to listen to her. In an attempt to calm himself down, Sasuke took a deep breath.

"Sas'ke?" a soft voice called out from the darkness.

Upon hearing his name, Sasuke turned towards the bed to see Naruto hunched over the edge of the bed naked and looking up at him with foggy blue eyes.

"I don't feel too good, and I'm cold," Naruto said just above a murmur.

"I know," Sasuke sighed. This was so awkward. He just was not used to taking care other people. "I'll take you to the bathroom after we get your pants back on, alright?"

Weakly, Naruto nodded.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, and sighed louder than before; this was definitely not his day at all.

Frankly, he was too damn tired to be taking care of Karin_ and_ Naruto. Nevertheless, Sasuke knew he probably was the only person who was able to drive the drunken blond home. Sasuke heard the mattress squeak as he bent down to pick of Naruto's jeans. He looked up to see that Naruto had rolled over onto his back. The other boy laid there spread eagle, and not ashamed of his nudeness. Sasuke could not if it was the angle he was bending or what, but his eyes, shot straight towards Naruto groins. Naruto was still half erected, waiting for someone or something to finish him off. The other boy's penis was about the same size as his, and he was circumcised. In the dim light coming from the hallway, Sasuke could see coarse, curly blonde hair surround the area around Naruto cock and balls. The hair was fair, that it nearly blended into Naruto's skin.

"It's too bright," Naruto groaned weakly. "Sas'ke, where're m'pants?" Naruto's voice quickly bought Sasuke back to reality. He looked up to see that Naruto had managed to prop himself up onto his elbows. Sasuke gaze snapped towards his hands, he could not quite look into Naruto's foggy eyes yet. "I don't feel so good…" Naruto's voice trailed off as he fell back onto bed.

Although he as seen guys naked before, Sasuke was never drawn towards the naked body like this before. Maybe he wasn't as sober as he thought he was, or maybe Naruto's body was just that hot, but he was leaning for the former.

"I know," Sasuke said, even more awkwardly than before. "I got your pants, so I kind of need you to left up your legs." Naruto halfhearted complied.

"Naruto, tell what you drunk," Sasuke said while sliding Naruto's jeans up the boy's legs. He knew Naruto could have gotten this drunk off beer alone. It was only eleven, and he saw how many cups Naruto had earlier.

"Uh…, I had… that cocktail Carrie gave me, 'cause I don't like beer," Naruto said with a frown. "Do y'know that Carrie drinks housewife cocktails?"

"That's interesting," Sasuke said dismissively, finally zipping up the other boy's pants.

As soon as Naruto was finally half-decent, Sakura came up to the bedroom with a very Kiba staggering in her wake. The girl admittedly rushed up to Naruto's side. She instantly dropped to her knees and took hold of Naruto's hand. She had no idea what was going on. Carrie had gotten her, but did not tell her anything other than that Sasuke wanted to see her. Now she was there only to find Naruto in such a pathetic state.

"What did you do to Naruto?" she demanded without keeping her eyes off Naruto.

"_I_ didn't do anything to him," Sasuke snapped. "_Carrie_ got Naruto drunk so she could have sex with him. You should be thankful I didn't let her go through with it, I doubt he would enjoy an STD."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke with wide eyes. "Caroline did that?" she gasped.

Naruto giggled. "Carrie's name is Caroline? She shouldn't go into the light then."

Sakura shot Naruto a warning glare. "You should hush it, Naruto." Sakura turned back towards Sasuke. "Thank you, I really do mean it, but you really did not have to that, Sasuke."

"Hey!" Kiba called out from the doorway. "Why has everybody forgot about me?"

"Because you're drunk," Sasuke said, deadpan.

"That could be a reason, but I kind of have a responsibility of looking over Naruto," Kiba said, walking (staggering) over towards them. "I feel that it's my fault he almost got herpes from Carrie. She is one skanky whore. It's a shame Naruto's such a lightweight. It was just a fuckin' cocktail."

Sasuke bit his tongue to keep himself from saying that Naruto was both their responsibility.

"Thank you, Kiba, but we already know that," Sakura said, irritably. "Anyway, we got to get him home, and obviously you can't draw, Kiba. But luckily, I have a ride."

"I was planning on driving Naruto home," Sasuke said, unexpectedly.

Sakura looked up at him wither her eyebrow raised. "Why should you do that? You've already helped enough."

Sasuke sighed in shoved his hands in his pockets. He wishes this girl would just shut up. "Well, I live in his neighborhood, so it would be practical if I were to drive him home," he stated flatly.

Sakura fell silent, as if thinking Sasuke's offer over. "Alright," she said after a moment of silence. "I'll let you drive him home, but I have to come with him since you don't know where he lives." She tapped Naruto's arm in an attempt to get the boy's attention. "Can you get up, Naruto?" she asked him, softly.

"I dunno," he mumbled. Naruto pushed himself up into his shoulder and sat up a little bit too quickly. Naruto clutched his head as the room started to spin. It felt like all the blood had rushed towards his head, and flood every nook and cranny of his skull. Naruto let out a moan as he drew his knees up to his chest.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him, but Naruto didn't listen to her pleading voice. He lurched forward, and to everyone's horror, violently threw up all over the bed.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," he coughed before fallback onto the bed and passed out.

* * *

Naruto felt horrible. His whole body felt disconnected from his head and the burning, dryness of his throat was unbearable. It felt like someone had made him drink battery acid. The acidic taste lingered in the back of his throat, and up his nose. He had aches and pains all over his body as though he'd been beat up. Naruto groaned and turned on to his stomach causing his rested stomach to churn in protest. 

"Come on, Naruto stop moving around, or you'll fall off," a disembodied voice snapped.

Naruto recoiled from the horrible pounded in his ears the voice evoked. He burrowed into the blanket that appeared out of nowhere, and turned away from the voice as though it were to go away. His stomach twisted, and turned as he did this, and Naruto desperately tried to ignore it, but his stomach was not having it. The contents of his stomach pressed against to roof of his stomach and threatened to shoot up his throat. He kicked the blanket off him and quickly twisted himself over onto his left side.

"Hand me the basket," the voice groaned. "That's a good boy, right into the trash bin," they said softly as Naruto vomited into the trash bin they were holding out in an angle. There hands rubbed soothing circles on his back.

Naruto's body violently shook as more came up. Once he felt as though he was done vomiting, Naruto laid back don and burrowed back into the blanket. All Naruto wanted to do was sleep, but the person from before took hold of him and forced him into a sitting position.

"Cut it out," he groaned.

"No," a different voice snapped. "The last thing you need to do is lay back down."

Naruto instantly recognized it as Sasuke's. Who could forget that smoky voice?

"Sasuke?" he croaked, finally opening his heavy eyes. He looked over to his right to see Sakura hold a trash bin. "Sakura?" he asked, more confused than ever. "Why is Sasuke in my room?"

"I gave you a ride home," Sasuke said, curtly.

"Oh…," Naruto said trailed off. It was than that he "woken up". The night came flashing by some morbid overview how far humans could fall. "Please tell me I didn't made-out with Carrie on a couch," he whined, looking down at his hands.

"You did more than that, Naruto," Sakura said. She had long placed the trash bin on the bucket.

"…" Naruto fell silent. His cheeks were burning with shame.

"What time is it?" he asked, trying to move onto a different subject.

Sasuke said slowly while looking down at his watch. "Three-thirty-two in the morning," The other boy yawned right after looking at the time. "I should get home," he mumbled.

"Why you two still doing here if it's that late?" Naruto asked curtly while throwing the covers off himself.

"I'm here, because I was worried about you, Naruto. Sasuke's here, because I forced him to," Sakura said.

"You didn't have to," the boy said, curtly

"I wanted to!" Sakura shouted back.

Naruto winced and grabbed his ear. "Not so loud," he moaned.

"Can I go home now that Naruto's awake? As much as I like being a night owl, I do not want to spend my last four hours of twilight listening to your two yelling at each other," Sasuke said.

Sakura looked up at the brunet boy. "You can go home, Sasuke. I'm sorry I pulled you into to all of this," she said, much softer, and sweeter than moments before. "Be sure to lock the door on your way out."

Sasuke snorted dismissively. "Hn, whatever," he grunted, before leaving.

Sakura let out a sighed of relief when she heard the front door close and lock. She looked up at Naruto who was now sitting on the edge of his bed wearing a pair of his own sweat pants and the tee shirt from earlier. "Let's talked about tonight," she said. "What exactly do you remember, Naruto?"

"Uh…," the boy trailed off.

"Nothing at all?" the girl gasped, wide-eyed. "Come on, do even remember how we got there?"

Naruto eyes darted around the room, but never land on Sakura even once. "Um, no."

Sakura groaned. "Alright what do you remember?'

Naruto's brow furrowed as he tried to fill in parts into the overview. More bits and pieces of the night came forward and Naruto was starting to hate himself. One thing that stood out the most was a certain bit involving Carrie and Sasuke. Apparently, the girl knew something about Sasuke that others didn't, and the boy threatened her or something along those lines. Naruto forgot what Carrie knew. Nevertheless, it must have been something very bad.

"I remember running into Lee, drinking five cups of that cocktail and calling it "Jesus Juice". Also I think I threw up on someone's bed," he said, purposely leaving out the part about Sasuke.

"I see," Sakura nodded in understanding.

"You probably think I'm a lightweight now, don't you?" Naruto asked her.

"No, anyone would get that drunk off that cocktail. I mean, I could smell the alcohol from where I was sitting. I think there was some very strong vodka in there," Sakura said.

"How do you know all about that kind of stuff, Sakura?" Naruto asked the girl.

"Uh…, you see, there was always a bar set in my house," she yawned.

"You should go to sleep," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I should. Would you let me sleep over? I don't want to sneak into the house this late. My dad's girlfriend doesn't like me that much and she'll have a fit," Sakura said.

"Sure, you can have my bed."

"Oh-no, I can't do that. You're the one with horrible hangover, not me."

Naruto sighed and climbed out of bed. "It's fine, really. I'm not that tired at all, so it'll be pointless to just stay in bed."

"Alright," Sakura said in defeat. "Do you have anything for me to wear?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, walking over to his dresser. "I think I have a shirt in here…"

"You know, I still think it's cool that you live by yourself."

"It's not all that great," Naruto said rummaging through his shirt draw. "I don't have anyone to make sure that my clothes are washed, or to make sure that I eat. I pay my own bills, and even though I have a job, I barely make it."

"Oh, but you and your mom are talking again right? I'm sure she won't let you go broke."

"Yeah, she wouldn't let that happen to me, but I have to prove that I'm responsible. Ah, I found it," Naruto said holding a very large tee shirt in his hand. He turned around and tossed it to Sakura.

"Well, if you need anything just ask me, alright?" Naruto said while walking towards the door.

"Alright," Sakura said, nodding. "But there are more things we need to talk about tomorrow, Naruto."

"Alright," Naruto whined, before leaving.

Once Naruto was gone, she changed and turned off the lamp. As she climbed into the bed, Sakura noticed that the blankets smelled like Naruto- the blankets smelled like soap, potting soil, and fabric softener. Sakura let her head sink into the pillow as she pulled the blankets up to her nose. It would be nice to sleep with smelling this scent all the time.

* * *

Oooh, I added more drama. There's Gaara since I kind of promised someone that I add him in, Karin, Ino and Kiba are fighting, Sakura has a bigger crush on Naruto than she lets on, Sasuke has a secret, and Naruto can't hold his liquor. I promise I would forget about Gaara, he'll come back in future chapters. He's actually very important, but his future roll is a secret. 

Also, normally I do not bash characters in my fics, but I don't like Karin. At all. She has absolutely no redeeming qualities to her. Why is she there? Just to make Team Snake even sexier than it already is? She doesn't need to, that's Sasuke's job. He's the group's sex symbol. Also, she makes chick wear glasses look like horrible. (I wear glasses. ;;) I won't make her into a sex crazed hussy, though. She's not an important character anyway, she's just Sasuke's sugar mama as you can tell.


	6. Afternoon Delight

This chapter is kinda short. Nothing really good happens in this chapter, and I had quite a hard time writing in between school, and work. Also, more Sasuke! I'm actually liking the way I characterized him, thought I do think I could do better. I could do much better than this, but I'd have to write an in universe fic to do that. I hate the neglect his character gets in the manga. So much can be done with it yet we get a revenge driven hate machine.

Also I notice I've dug myself into a hole, that I didn't catch until it was too late. Naruto and Rock Lee are born a month apart. They should have started kindergarten a year later than the rest, because in America you have to be five before the school year to be in kindergarten. If you haven't noticed, I mentioned that Lee was starting college. That would be impossible, unless he was skipped a grade.

I've done a really bad thing.

And during the last update, someone asked my why do I hate Ino. This really baffled me. I don't hate Ino, but she does seem like the type of girl to be snotty and self centered. If I truly hated Ino, I wouldn't have her paired up with Kiba, now would I?

Once again, people, please tell what errors you find. It's not that hard. Just highlight the text, right click it and copy it to the body of the review box. I really do need to know this things since I do not have a proof reader at the time.

**I do not own Naruto. If I did, it would be a Sailor Moon clone named "Puri Puri Magical Penis Attack Panic Time"!**

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**The Ugly Duckling**

**Chapter VI: Afternoon Delight**

by The Teeth Collector

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The day started at noon for Sakura. She woke up feeling like a new person. All the anger she felt last night had melted away. Last night seemed so far away, that it could not possibly come back to haunt her. She could not remember when she slept this will, but the bed felt empty despite it's small size. Sakura rolled over onto her side and rubbed the empty spot front of her wishfully. Maybe the lack of warmth and presence that should be there is what was affecting her. Sakura sighed and buried her face into Naruto's pillow as though it was the boy's shoulder. It was pathetic and she knew it.

Being around Naruto overwhelmed her at times. When she first met Naruto in May, the boy seemed so depressed and hostile. It was like trying to befriend an abuse dog. The way he lashed out at her sometimes made her never want to talk to him ever again. He was unapproachable, but she dumbly continued to invade his personal space. Naruto was like that for the rest of the school year. Then Sakura became worried about Naruto of whom she has considered a friend. When the summer break ended, Naruto's behavior changed completely. He no longer glared at her; instead, he passively tolerated her around him. He never told her to leave, or pushed her away. He still seemed dejected and overwhelmed, but the anger was gone. Maybe it all started when she saw him like that, and a simple notion was born. That she could show Naruto happiness by taking him under her wing, as though he were a stray puppy.

Then it happened. She had fallen hard for Naruto, and she refused to get back up.

Sakura grouped for the clock radio on the bed and brought it up to her face. It was already ten-fifteen. _Naruto should be up_, she thought to herself. Maybe she could tell today, but how would Naruto react? She knew the boy probably never had a date in his teenage life. She did not know what kind of boyfriend Naruto would be, and anything was possible. However, she knew he'll be sweet to her. She would have bragging rights as having the sweetest boyfriend out of all her friends. Just think about it made her cheeks burn and happiness boil up from within her. The warmth in her belly faded at the realization of an obstacle in her way. She just could not ignore a subject. It nagged at her all night and it woke up with her.

Biting her lip, Sakura sat the clock radio down next to Naruto's pillow and climbed out of bed. She quickly slipped her pants from last night and headed for the living room. She was shocked to find Naruto passed out on the sofa in a very odd angle. He must have dozed off without realizing it. Wincing, Sakura slowly creped towards him. She dropped to her knees and began to tap Naruto on his shoulder.

"Hey, Naruto, wake up," she said, softly.

Someone was shaking him awake. Groaning, Naruto slapped away the person's hands. He turned his back to them expecting the person to get the hint and leave him alone. Instead, they started to shake him violently. Naruto tired to ignore them, but they continued to shake him awake. Thanks to their furious shaking, Naruto was now fully awake and very irritated. He shot his eyes open and spun around to face them.

"What the f-" Naruto's words trailed off as he came face-to-face with Sakura. "Uh…, good morning, Sakura."

Sakura's eye narrowed. "Good morning to you to, Naruto," she said, curtly.

Naruto slowly sat up and threw his legs of the side of the couch. He tried to stretch, but winced in pain. God, his neck felt so stiff. Rubbing his sore neck, Naruto looked over at the television. Somehow, he had fallen asleep with realizing it. It was as if he blinked and magically it became morning. Just how he fell asleep feeling the way he did was truly mystery.

"What time is it," the boy asked, stretching.

"It's ten in the morning. Just when did you go to sleep Naruto?" Sakura replied.

"I… don't remember. Hell, I didn't even notice I went to sleep."

Sakura sighed. "Just how do you fall asleep without noticing it?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Don't know, but I did."

"Naruto," Sakura said, sitting down next to Naruto. "About last night…"

"Yeah, you left me with Carrie," Naruto grunted.

"I did, but I was mad at you!" the girl screeched. "You were sitting there getting piss-face drunk, and that skank was starting to get on my nerves! I was thrilled to go out and get some air with Lee. It was better than watching that."

"I… don't have an excuse for last night. I never drink that much before. In fact, I hardly ever drink. I guess I just didn't care at the moment," Naruto said in defeat.

"Well, it's mostly my fault. I mean, I am the one you pressured you into coming along, right? The whole night was just shit anyway. I pulled you into the middle of Ino and Kiba's fight and everything. I'm sorry, I really am," Sakura said, putting a comforting hand on Naruto's tense shoulder. Naruto looked into her eyes and bit down on his bottom lip.

"You shouldn't apologize, Sakura. I'm the one who acted like a cock," he said.

Suddenly, Sakura went into a fit of giggles that sliced through the tension in the air.

"What did I say that's so funny?" Naruto asked, confused.

"No, you didn't say anything funny," the girl managed to say in between laughs. "It's just that I've never hear the word 'cock' used that way, and well, it caught me off guard. I like it actually. I'm going to start using the word 'cock' instead of jackass for now on."

Naruto frowned. "That's my word, and nobody can use it without my permission," he said with a pout. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something, Sakura. Why was Sasuke in my house – _in my room_ – until I woke up? I know he sort of stopped Carrie from – uh – having sex with me, and kinda' drove me home?"

"Yeah, it's odd since Sasuke wouldn't care less if someone was being taken advantage of," Sakura said. "Naruto, you should know that he seemed worried about you for some reason. I didn't make him stay like I said last night. He stayed, because he wanted to." Sakura bit her lip, and braced herself for what she was about to say. She knew she had to tell Naruto this, but she knew he wouldn't care. He would think that she was lying.

"I may sound crazy for saying this, but I think he likes you. I know it seems way out there, but I've known Sasuke since kindergarten up until ninth grade. I don't know anything about him now, but… I just don't know. I mean, he has a girlfriend– an older chick. And that just seems so out there, but he's been acting weird since he helped you during P.E.," she continued. The girl looked into Naruto's eyes screech for something. Anything thing would be fine, just as long as it was what she wanted.

Naruto sat there. That could not be possible. Sasuke was no doubt a playboy, and it was obvious the boy loved the company of the opposite gender. As Sakura said, he had an older girlfriend, and he was cheating on her. If anything, Sakura hunch made the situation with Sasuke made more sense. It finally gave Naruto a theory on why Sasuke was bothering him. The other boy was actually harassing Naruto, because he had a crush on him. The very thought of Sasuke being shy was enough to make Naruto go into a fit of giggles. Sasuke was shy all right; he was shy enough to stop swallowing that girl from last night.

Even if Sakura were right, there was no way Sasuke would take notice to a boy who was barely a blimp on the radar. There was nothing remotely interesting about Naruto. He was not blessed good looks or had charisma. Naruto could not make heads turn. He was a short, skinny, plain looking boy with a less than stellar personality. Why does Sasuke, who seemed to care only of himself, even bother to talk to him? The other boy should be mocking him for being such a loser. Sasuke should not be wasting what little kindness he had on Naruto. He should be ignoring him just like the other do. Someone has shallow as Sasuke would not waste their time on Naruto, yet the boy did. Naruto was starting to dread the day he met Sasuke. He had to stop thinking about this. This whole thing is just Sakura overanalyzing, and nothing more. Sasuke was merely bothering Naruto for the hell of it. He was just like Sakon, bored and an asshole. He could not waste his time on something so stupid, and ridiculous. However, the strange feeling boiling up inside him was not something he could easily ignore.

Naruto laughed and shook his head. "You're imagining things," he said after a period of silence. "I don't even know why would you tell me something like that."

Sakura let out a deep breath and smiled. "Yeah, I must have been reading too much into this. He does have a girlfriend after all- an older woman, too. He picked her up from some club and she was drunk," she said.

"Can we forget about last night? It should be a skeleton in my closet. It's best that way," the boy said.

"You do know that more than one person saw that, right?"

"I know, but it's just a silly delusion that I would like to hold on to. I happened to like living in La-La Land- the crime rate is very low. Anyway, have you called your mom? She should be filing a missing person's report. You should really get home before the cops show up here."

"Don't worry," Sakura said. "I'm staying with my dad this week. He wouldn't rather or not a I stay out all night. It's better if I stay a little longer- he's girlfriend doesn't like me very much."

"That sounds harsh."

"No, the feeling is mutual. I hate that woman," the girl sighed. "I should probably change back into my own shirt."

"No, you can keep it if you want," _It probably has tit prints already_, Naruto added on silently.

"Oh, thanks," Sakura said as a knock came from the front door.

"I'll get it," Naruto sighed, standing up.

Sakura watched as Naruto padded towards the front door to answer it.

"You smell, boss," a high-pitched voice a young boy said.

"Ewww, gross," a young girl moaned.

"I do not," Naruto said. He slid his hand up along the side of the door, and "discreetly" sniffed his underarm.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, why were there two little kids at Naruto's door? She had to find out. The girl climbed off the couch and walk up beside Naruto. Standing in the hallway was a boy wearing a red scarf, a girl with gravity deifying braids, and a boy wearing glasses with a running nose.

"Naruto, who are these kids?" she asked.

The boy jumped a slightly and wiped around to face her. "Oh, it's just you, Sakura," he said. "That one with the scarf is Konohamaru, the girl is Moegi, and the one with the runny nose is Udon- like the noodle. I kind of told them I'd hang out with them today."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You have play dates with little kids?"

"Uh, short of," Naruto said.

"Hey, Boss, is this girl your girlfriend? She's pretty ugly, you know. I didn't think you'd have such bad taste," Konohamaru quipped.

"You probably shouldn't have said that Konohamaru," Udon said, nasally.

Dread overcame Naruto. He just knew that Konohamaru would slip up and say something stupid around Sakura.

"Just who do you think you are? What does it matter to you if I am dating Naruto? And what do you know about women? You probably still think you'll get cooties from us," Sakura snapped.

"I do not, and it's not my fault you're an ugly heifer!" Konohamaru screeched.

"Hei-heifer?!" Sakura stammered as Naruto cut her off.

"Come on, Konohamaru, stopped trying to pick fights with people you just met. Now, come in before that old bag upstairs will start complaining that we were being noisy," Naruto sighed. "Konohamaru, it's a Sunday for god's sake, this is a day for relaxing. You people need to relax."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms over his chest as the three children entered the apartment. Sakura felt a tug at her shirt and looked down to see Moegi peering up at her.

"I think that you look pretty," the girl said.

Immediately after hearing the compliment, Sakura's anger melted away and she squealed. "Awww, you are just to precious. Thank you, Moegi. I wished I had a little sister, she would be just like you, too," the girl gushed.

Naruto, who was standing beside the two, laughed at the scene. It appears that Sakura has taken a liking to Moegi. No doubt, the two were going to become blood sisters. Moegi needed an older girl to look up to anyway, though Sakura was not a very good recommendation.

"I'm getting dressed," he announced.

"Boss, you're not gonna leave me with the Amazon, are you?" Konohamaru whined.

"She's not an Amazon, Konohamaru," Naruto said before entering his bedroom.

Naruto padded over to his dresser and pulled out a striped white and blue polo shirt, and a pair of jeans. He quickly got dressed and put on deodorant. After sitting the deodorant down, Naruto ran a hand through his hair. His hair was starting to get too saggy for his liking. It was still as untamable as ever, but the look did not suit him well. It was too bad he couldn't get it cut until after he gets his pay cheque. The boy sighed and left the room where he found Konohmaru sulking at the kitchen table, and Sakura and Moegi playing a clapping game on the couch. Sakura stopped midway through the rhyme and look up at him.

"Hey, Naruto, I should probably get going," she said.

Naruto's brow furrowed. "What? I thought you wanted to stay a little longer. So, what gives?" he said.

"Well, I thought since you were having a play-date, you wouldn't want me around," the girl said.

"Don't go!" Meogi wailed. "I want you stay with us, Sakura!"

"I want her to leave!" Konohamaru shouted, causing him to receive a glair from Moegi.

"That's sweet, Moegi, but I can't stay," Sakura said.

"You can stay, Sakura. I don't mind, and obviously neither do Moegi and Udon. Konohamaru, don't say anything," Naruto said moments before Konohamaru opened his big mouth. "So, do we go to the park?"

"Yeah!" a chorus of cheers came from the three children.

"But you have to play with us, remember?" Konohamaru said. "So don't just sit there and watch while we play, alright? You owe us."

Naruto sighed. He should stop making promises without thinking. For now on all decisions must go through a inner debate.

"Yeah, I hear you," Naruto said.

It did not take the group very long to reach the park. It was only ten blocks away. On the walk there, Moegi stayed very close to Sakura and only talk to the older girl. Udon walked beside Naruto, and Konohamaru walked behind everyone else sulking. The boy could be so stubborn at times.

Sakura and Moegi walked over towards the swings. Right after Sakura sat down, she felt a tug at her sleeve and looked up to see Udon beside her.

"I'm sorry for the way Konohamaru was acting. He doesn't mean any harm," he said in defense of his friend.

That's sweet, and don't worry I'm not mad at him," Sakura said. She then turned towards Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, push me!"

"What?" Naruto said.

"I said, push me. I can never do it myself. So, push me please."

Naruto groaned. "Alright, whatever," he said, walking behind her, and gave her a half-heart push.

"C'mon, Naruto, you can push harder that," Sakura whined.

"Hey, Boss, push me too!" Moegi said.

"I would like to be pushed also," Udon said.

"Hey, don't forget me!" Konohamaru yelled while sitting down on the last swing.

Naruto groaned louder than before. That is just great. Now they all wanted him to push them. It seems like his title for the day will be 'slave boy'.

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Sasuke did not go to sleep after returning home. It was not as if he could not fall to sleep, he just wasn't tired. While Karin slept peacefully in the bedroom, he stayed up and watched infomercials. After the infomercials were over, he watched Saturday morning cartoons. He did not have much of a choice. It was now eleven and his eyes were starting droop. Sasuke was starting to regret not taking a sleeping pill, and sleeping off last night's events. It was still very fresh in his mind, and the urges he felt were still boiling in his gut.

Naruto caused those urges, and Sasuke hated it. He could not deny how he felt no longer. He wanted Naruto. He wanted Naruto ever since he saw the other boy at the beginning of the school year. He remembered it well since Naruto was being bullied. At first, he hated Naruto for being so weak and defenseless. In fact, Sasuke was disgusted. He could not fathom how people could make themselves victims like that. Then, the more Sasuke watched Naruto the more of enigma Naruto had become to him. Sometimes the other boy would look depressed, and other times he would look mad. There was not a day that Naruto came into school looking happy. Not that Sasuke ever came to school in a good mood, but the difference was that Naruto had a bright appearance, yet his mood was always sour.

Somehow, Sasuke's mild interest became an infatuation. Even now, he could not think of a reason for this… lust he held for Naruto. It bothered him greatly. How could he have succumbed to his emotions like this? Why had he fallen for this boy? Every time he comes close to Naruto all sense of rationality goes out the window. Like that girl from the party. He was sure to sleep with her, yet when he saw Naruto those plans were halted. After being caught like that, Sasuke felt ashamed of what he did. It was as if he had betrayed Naruto's trust. In was infuriating. Naruto was manipulating his emotions without even knowing! If only he could sleep with Naruto, and put an end to this! However, Sasuke knew that it would never happen. He did not know if the other boy was interested in guys or not.

This whole situation was just too stressful, and stupid.

Sasuke heard footfalls coming from the hallway, and looked over to see Karin turning the corner. The girl padded her way towards Sasuke, and plopped down next to him.

"'Mornin'," the girl yawned.

"It's noon," Sasuke stated, flatly.

"Oh, so that's why I feel so good," the girl said, scooting closer to Sasuke. The boy noticed this, and discreetly scooted father away from her. "Did you sleep at all, Sasuke?"

"No."

"Really?" the girl gasped. "You should be tired by now."

"I should, but I'm not," he lied. "Now, just shut up."

"Hey, what's with you?" Karin snapped.

"Nothing," the boy grunted, avoiding Karin's eyes.

"Bullshit, I know that something is wrong with you! You've been acting really strange lately!" Karin's voice softened, "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because there is nothing wrong with me, so drop it."

"If there isn't anything wrong with you, than why haven't you touched me anymore?" she pleaded.

Sasuke smirked. "You're started to get attach to me, aren't you Karin," he said.

Karin's jaw went rigid. "Do not change the subject like that!" she screeched. "This is all about you and how you've been acting lately. Tell me, have you been seeing another girl behind my back! How long have you been seeing her, Sasuke? I don't care what you think, but I won't just sit around while you cheat on me. So, yes I've become attached to you, Sasuke."

Sasuke exhaled deeply, and looked over at Karin. "Is that so?" he asked.

The girl nodded her head.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Sasuke said before leaning in, and pulling the girl into a kiss.

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The release Sasuke had received did not forefeel his urges as he had hoped. He felt as full as had before, and all he could think about was Naruto. He did not want Karin soft body against his, to smell her sweet scent, to touch her supple skin, or even hear her moans of pleasure. The body that Sasuke wanted to hold was lithe and taut. He didn't want to hold someone who smelled like vanilla, but instead of soap and men's deodorant. The moans he wanted to hear were husky instead of airy. He wanted to see that golden blond hair spilled out on the pillow instead of black. He wanted tan skin underneath his lips instead of pale. The eyes that looked at him should be blue, not brown. Karin had become Naruto's substitute, and it sickened Sasuke.

Even during sex with a woman, his could not stop him from fantasizing. This just would not go away. Sasuke knew now that he has underestimated this situation. This… infatuation was deep. He could not call this merely a crush. This was something deeper. It was foreign sensation that blended hatred and lust together. Just how could one person do this too him? This boy that he hardly even knew! Even so, this boy was invading his life, his thoughts, and even his sex life. Sasuke has truly failed himself.

Sasuke sat up after catching his breath. He sighed and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. There was a rustle coming from behind him, but he didn't look over his shoulder. He could not bear to look at Karin after what had happened. This was genuine shame that he was feeling, and fantasizing about Naruto was not the only cause of his shame. Sasuke reached for his cigarettes and lighter. He light one up without offering one to Karin. As her smoked, he felt the weight shift, and felt Karin embrace him from behind.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine, why do you keep asking that?"

"Because of what happened-"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Shut up."

"Come on, Sasuke, it just happens some times-"

"I said, shut up."

"- there are a lot guys who sometime finish early you know."

Finally, Sasuke spun around to look at Karin. "I thought I told you to shut up," he growled.

Karin merely sighed, and lay back down on the bed. Her breast jiggled as she made the sudden movement. She rolled over on her side, and rested her head on her arm.

"I just don't get how you can be so embarrassed by this," she said. "It's perfectly normal reaction to getting over excited during sex."

"Then why don't you shut up about if you don't get it?" he said, putting out his cigarette.

"Sasuke," Karin said after a few moments of silence.

"What?"

"Do you love me?" she asked.

Just then, the world around them froze. Sasuke took a long drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah," he replied flatly.

Karin smiled. "I'm glad."

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I'm a good girl, I cannot bring myself to defame a fictional character. I told you I'm a good girl, so it must be true.


	7. Everything's Alright

Sorry, but this is another short chapter. It was going to be longer, but the scene was cut since it had a dramatic mood change. Such a large mood change that the scene created would be a bit too overwhelming. It's generally not a good idea to go from scary to campy in just a few sentences, so yeah, that's my reason for cutting the scene. Just to tell you all know.

**I do not own Naruto. If I did, then I would have a twin who is always copying me. Oh my god! **

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**The Ugly Duckling **

**Chapter VII: Everything's Alright**

by The Teeth Collector

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Sasuke had not shown up for school. However, it was not surprising, the boy skipped school a lot. Out of the five days week, Sasuke would only show up for two days for school. It would be surprising if he had the worst attendance the teachers ever seen. Somehow, Sasuke's absence from school eased Naruto's nerves. He simply could not face Sasuke. His conversation with Sakura said yesterday made him feel anxious. Every time he thought of Sasuke, a weird feeling washed over his body. Maybe he only felt like this, because of what Sakura said. Naruto wondered if everyone felt like this after something like this. Even so, all of this made Naruto feel good. It was weird, but he felt fantastic.

"Why are you sitting here?" someone asked Naruto in a drawl.

Naruto looked up from his deformed sculpture of an apple to see Shikamaru leering at him from across the table. "Huh?" he asked dumbly.

"Tsk, how bothersome, I'm not going to repeat myself," Shikamaru said leaning his elbows on the table.

Naruto frowned and ignored the other boy's attitude. "I don't see why you have a problem with it. This is my assigned table after all. Besides, you've never said anything to Chouji, Hinata, or even Tobi," Naruto said gesturing to Tobi who busy working on his project.

"That's because Tobi is… Tobi, but that's beside the point," Shikamaru sighed. "The teacher has already forgotten where everyone sits already. Just look around, there are so many people sitting at different tables."

"Really?"

"Are you blind?"

"Hey, table three shut up, and get back to work," Deidara shouted from across the room. "I can't hear myself think, dammit!"

Feeling awfully embarrassed, Naruto went back to fiddling with his apple, but some caught his eye. Naruto looked over at the Tobi to see the boy working on an unidentifiable four-legged lump. 

"Er, Tobi," Naruto whispered. "What are you making?"

Tobi stopped what he was doing and looked up at Naruto with a confused look on his face. "It's a puppy," he merely replied.

"Tobi, that puppy looks like someone threw a brick at it's head," the words spilled out of Naruto's mouth. Naruto heard both Chouji and Shikamaru snigger as he recovered from shock. Naruto expected Tobi to be upset, but the boy just appeared to be as confused as ever.

He examined the puppy once more before asking, "It does?"

"Uh, a little, but it's not that bad," Naruto said.

Tobi looked down and examined the puppy before looking back up at Naruto. "I never saw it that way. Thank you for your critique, Brother," the boy said smiling.

Naruto laughed nervously and went back to fixing up his apple.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome, this guy seriously does not know what he is doing," he said. Naruto knew right off the bat Shikamaru was referring to Deidara. "This is a load of bullshit, making us do this every single class."

"I don't mind really," Chouji said. "Just as long I don't have to draw, I'm okay. It just means that I'll have more cups."

Naruto looked over at the cup Chouji made. The plump boy has been making one every week. Naruto could not decide whether Chouji was being lazy, or if the other boy was an unlikely genius. The latter was starting to become more plausible by minute. Shikamaru on the other hand, was just plain lazy. Each week he made some sort of a bowl. The first week, it was a bowl, the next week it was an ashtray, and it a protective cup. Naruto only knew this because he asked, and he regretted ever asking. The only ones who seemed to put effort into their sculptures were, unsurprisingly, Hinata and Tobi. Tobi took on each project with gusto. He seemed to love every one of his pieces, no matter how bad the result looked. Hinata sat there quietly in the same seat each week carefully shaping the wad of clay in her hands. She never looked up at anybody nor talked. She just sat there.

Naruto sighed, maybe he should change table. This group was about as exciting as wet toilet paper, and not the kind stuck to bathroom ceiling either.

"Um," a voice squeaked. Everyone looked up at the only person who could have made the high-pitched sound, Hinata. The girl froze under everyone's gaze, and bit her lip before continuing "I- um, Tobi, I think your puppy looks very nice."

Her compliment must have please Tobi greatly, because the boy was simply beaming. "Thank you, Hinata, I like your vase!"

The girl gave Tobi a small smile before hiding her face under her bangs once more.

"Shikamaru," Chouji said. "Are you sure we didn't come to school in the twilight zone?"

"No," Shikmaru replied. "Today is just one of those days. Don't think too much about it, though. It'll make your head hurt, it sure is making mine hurt."

At that moment, the bell rung, and every stopped what they were doing.

"Alright, everyone, bring your sculptures up to the table!" Deidara shouted, pointing at the table beside him.

One-by-one, everyone put their finished and, in some cases, unfinished projects onto the table. Deidara passed over every sculpture except for one. The blond man picked up the puppy sculpture and stared at it critically. He looked at Tobi and frowned.

"So," Deidara drawled. "You're the one who keeps making these things?"

Tobi's brow furrowed. "But, their not puppies all the time- I made a bird last week."

Deidara was struck dumbfounded at Tobi's reply. "What?" the man choked out after finding his words.

Tobi's face wrinkled in confusion. "Dunno," he said.

Deidara was amused. He sighed and nodded. "Alright, this isn't funny!" he shouted angrily. "Who let the retard in?"

"How much longer do you bet Mr. Rockwood will last?" Shikamaru asked.

"Three, four weeks tops," Chouji said.

"A week," Naruto input. Chouji and Shikamaru whipped around to look at him. Noticing their questioning looks, Naruto shrugged. "Parents don't like it when you call their kids retarded."

"Can't argue with that," Shikamaru said as they left.

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The few weeks have been nothing but a huge pain in the ass for Sakon. Not only was Sasuke acting weird, but also the other boy had the nerve to threaten him! Sasuke actually threatened him for messing around with that Naruto kid! The whole thing just pissed him off. If it weren't for the fact it was Sasuke, Sakon would be shaking down Naruto at the moment. Instead he was listening to Tayuya bitch and moan over some shit he could care less about.

"And that's when I smacked that mouthy bitch… Hey are you listening to me!?" Tayuya snapped.

"Isn't obvious that I'm not?" Sakon said. "I honestly don't give a shit about what happened between you and what'sherface."

The girl's face turned beat red. He knew that his response would only provoke Tayuya, but he did not care. The girl can run her mouth for as long as she wants.

"For fuck sakes, Tayuya," Kidoumaru said before the girl could open her mouth. "Just because you think he's a fag, does not mean he cares what you have to say like one of your girlfriends. So don't be starting any shit, I'm really not in a good mood." Tayuya's face twisted up in anger. She opened her mouth to shout at Kidoumaru, but a hand quickly covered her mouth. The girl gasped and looked up at Kidoumaru. "I am really fucking serious, Tayuya. I do not want any shit today. Got it?" he asked sternly. The girl nodded and Kidoumaru released her.

Tayuya sulked in her seat next to Kidoumaru as she usually does. It has always been like this, and it simply did not faze Sakon anymore. Kidoumaru always had the balls to shut that girl up, and she usually does shut up, mainly due to Kidoumaru not being in a good mood. Not even Tayuya was stupid enough to mouth off while Kidoumaru was having a shit day.

"What's wrong with you now?" Sakon asked, testing the waters.

Kidoumaru snorted. "Nothing really," he said with a shrug. "Just pissed off at Carrie, that bitch won't return my calls. Since when did she get uppity?"

"Dunno, but you shouldn't even stressing over her. God knows how many diseases she's carrying," Sakon said.

"You're right, but she blew me off for some skinny-ass kid on Saturday! I still don't know what the fuck she was smoking that day," Kidoumaru grunted.

Sakon raised an eyebrow. "Really? Maybe he paid her to fuck him, or something. I wouldn't put it past her to give out pity fucks," the fair-haired boy said.

"Nah, it wasn't a pity fuck. She really seemed to like him. Maybe because he treated her like a lady. The kid actually had the balls to stand up to me and defend her out of all people. The kid was tiny too, and I really don't what he was thinking. I would have smashed his face in, but I didn't want to be a total shithead at the party, the last thing I want is to get police called on me. Fighting that tiny little kid would probably count as attempt murder," Kidoumaru sighed. "I think he came with Kiba."

Sakon's eyes widen. "Let me guess, he had blond hair, and a dumb look on his face?" Sakon asked.

Kidoumaru blinked. "Yeah, how did you know that?" he asked.

"I know of him," the fair-haired boy replied. "The guy's name is Naruto, I think. He got left back a year."

"Are you serious?" Kidoumaru asked laughing. "What a fucking loser."

"Is that guy the reason Sasuke had a 'talk' with you, Sakon?" Tayuya asked she had calmed down by that point.

"…," Sakon kept silent.

"Is that so," Kidoumaru said, taking Sakon's silence as a conformation. "Well, I'll tell you something interesting. Now, I maybe unsure about this (because I was drunk), but something happened between Sasuke, that Naruto kid, and Carrie. Apparently, Carrie tried to fuck the kid-"

"Awww, his poor dick- I almost feel sorry for it," Tayuya commented.

"_But_," Kidoumaru emphasized after being interrupted. "Sasuke wasn't having it. He, that Sakura chick, and Kiba dragged the kid away from the party. It seems your Naruto might just be Sasuke's bitch."

"What!?" Tayuya gasped. "You mean to tell me that Sasuke's a fag?"

Sakon thought for a moment. What Kidoumaru said made sense in it's own crazy way. "Do you really think that?"

The other boy shrugged. "It's just rumors. Personally, I don't think it's true. I mean, Sasuke's been with way too many girls to be gay. And if he is, he's really good at hiding it," he said.

"Yeah, but this whole thing still doesn't make any sense."

"You're right, but Sasuke is probably a fag. Anyway," Kidoumaru said licking his lips. "Can you tell me more about this Naruto kid?"

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"Hey, Naruto," Kiba said. "Are you interested in finding a girlfriend?"

Naruto choked on his drink. Sakura immediately stopped what she was doing to tap him on the back. "Wh-what!?" he croaked while Sakura shot Kiba dirty looks.

Kiba let out a hearty laugh. "Hey why are you getting so worked up? I just asked you if you wanted to meet a nice girl."

"No, it's just… that just caught me off guard a little."

"Really now," Kiba said. "Well then, just tell me if you want to meet this nice girl or not."

"No," Naruto said.

"What?"

"I said no."

"Why not?" Kiba whined. "Just give her a chance! You might like her."

"Cut it out, Kiba," Sakura said without looking up from her homework. "If he doesn't want a hookup, than don't force it on him."

"I don't know why you care. I thought Naruto was your friend. Shouldn't friends encourage each other to find love? Or is it because you're jealous?" Kiba said grinning as Sakura stared at him with a red face. "Ah-ha! You're blushing!"

"Shut up!" the girl screamed. Without a second thought, Sakura threw a muffin at the boy.

"You're just mad, because it's true," Kiba said, ducking away from the flying muffin.

"Stop teasing her, Kiba," Naruto said.

"No, I'm not going to stop unless you agree to meet Hinata," Kiba said in his own defense.

Naruto's eyes widen. "You know Hinata?" he asked.

Kiba was beaming. "Yeah, you know her, too?"

"A little, she's in my art class."

"That's great! Since you two kinda' know each other, than this will work out!"

"No, she doesn't seem all that sociable."

"Why not? Look she's really nice once she warms up to you. She's a whole lot nicer than an amazon that throws muffins at people."

Sakura glared at Kiba from across the table.

"Kiba…" Naruto said warningly.

"She threw a muffin at me!" Kiba yelled jabbing a figure at Sakura. The boy began to sniffle. "I thought we were friends, Naruto, but I guess you don't love me as much as you Sakura."

The boy hid his face in his hands and mocked crying. Naruto sighed. Kiba was stubborn to the point of being annoying. He knew the only way he could get out of it, is by forcing himself to go out on a date with Hinata, or something. However, Naruto was never one to hand over his will so easily.

"For the last time, Kiba, I don't want to go out with Hinata. She- she's just not my type! She's far from being my type. I'm sure she's nice and sweet, and any guy would go crazy over her, but I'm not one of those guys, alright! So don't force this on me, so shut up and get over it!" Naruto shouted tossing his arms into the air. "Now can we _please_ have a nice a conversation where my sex life isn't the hot topic? 'Cause, it simply isn't any of your business, Kiba."

"Dammit, Naruto, how can you be so selfish!? You are the perfect guy for Hinata! I can't believe you won't at least get to know!" Kiba barked in anger.

A small smile played on Sakura lips. She simply could not help it, for some reason, hearing Naruto say that made her simile. Maybe the subtle change in the boy's demeanor was causing this. For some reason, Naruto seemed happy. The boy was positively beaming! She wasn't even sure if this was the same boy she knew. Her smile did not fade as Naruto's attention turned towards her. He looked confused, but returned her smile. This only made Sakura feel fuzzier, and the girl started to giggle. Sometimes, Naruto was too cute for his own good.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion. What was so funny that it made Sakura laugh? The boy began to wonder if he had something on his face…

"What's wrong with her?" Kiba asked, his anger seemly receding.

"I don't know," Naruto answered.

"I just remembered a joke," the girl said in-between laugher. "But that's beside the point, are the two of you going to the field trip? I sure am."

"No fucking way," Kiba replied. "Like hell I'm going to the fucking pumpkin patch. Do I look like I'm in second grader to you?"

"Yeah, you do," she said with a cheeky smile.

"Well, I'm going," Naruto announced. "I never got to go on field trips, so this is a first for me. I don't really care that it's a pumpkin patch or not."

Kiba and Sakura stared at him in shock. They could not believe their ears! Had Naruto really say that? "Are you serious?" the two asked in unison.

"Yeah, dead serious, I never got to go on field trips because I would always do something stupid the week before the trip. I didn't care really; I just got a free day of from school- which is way cooler than any trip to the zoo," the boy recalls nostalgically.

"So you mean to tell me that you were a total asshat last year?" Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, sort of."

"God, when you thought you knew people," the other boy said disappointedly. "It would be great if we became a double trouble or something. I'm always looking for someone to drag down with me."

"Yeah right, if anything I'll be dragging _you_ down with me. I've done some crazy things in my lifetime," Naruto proclaimed proudly.

"Oooh, you must tell!" Kiba said in glee.

Naruto felt Sakura hastily tugging at his sleeve, and looked over only to see the back of her head. The girl turned her head to meet his gaze, leaned in close and hissed, "She's coming this way." Naruto eyebrows knitted together as he looked past Sakura to Carrie heading straight towards them! All Naruto could do was gawk at vast space ahead of him.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Sakura whispered. "Don't tell she's still trying to get into your pants. Ah! She has less tact than I thought!"

"I honestly do not know, Sakura," Naruto said.

"Hey, what are you two talking about over there?" Kiba asked.

"I'll tell him," Sakura said. "Carrie's-" before Sakura could finished, Carrie already arrived. "- Never mind."

"Can I talk to Naruto for a minute." Carrie said, it was a more of a statement than a question.

"Honestly, what makes you think Naruto wants to talk to after Saturday?" Kiba questioned.

"Can Naruto speak for himself?" Carrie sneered.

"Kiba's right I don't want to talk to you," Naruto said without looking up at the girl.

"Hmph, fine!" Carrie walked over towards Naruto placed a fold piece of paper on the table. "Call me whenever you can," the girl said before walking past Naruto.

"I just can't believe some people," Sakura whined as Naruto picked up the note Carrie left.

"Ewww, don't tell me you're considering calling her," Kiba commented.

Naruto wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something awful. "God's no," he said as finished unfolding the note. "It's just that she wrote something else."

Naruto instantly froze when as he Carrie's message. Standing in it's full glory, written in hasty scrawl was _"For your own good, stay far, __**far**__ away from Sasuke."_ Naruto's hands clinched the notebook paper tightly. He was more angered than surprised by the vague message. Staring at those words made his chest felt tight, yet he did not know why. What gave her the right to dictate what he should do? Why would it matter to her if he talks to Sasuke or not? Naruto gritted his teeth. Carrie had no right to give him this note! She tried to fuck him while he was drunk Saturday night for god's sake! How dare she write to him like this!

"Stay away from Sasuke," Naruto mouthed to himself.

"What? What did she write, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," the boy replied as he shoved note into his pocket. He did not notice the concern look on Sakura's face.

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Field trips to orchids suck. I'm sure anybody who has gone on one agrees with me. Picking over ripe pumpkins, and apples and riding around in a wagon full of itchy hay is not fun. Ever.


End file.
